


Jaeger’s Gotta Catch ‘em All

by GoldenEmolga



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Crossover, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-16
Updated: 2014-06-27
Packaged: 2018-01-25 02:15:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1626200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenEmolga/pseuds/GoldenEmolga
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Who doesn't want a crossover between Attack on Titan and Pokémon?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Eren on the Hill

**Author's Note:**

> So... I've been toying with this crossover idea for a while, and all the amazing fanart certainly isn't helping... There will be lots of mild pairings, but as you can probably tell, it's main one is Eremin. 
> 
> I have a fun adventure planned so I hope you all stick around if you like the idea. It's gonna start out a little slow, but there's a lot of action planned for, uh, around the 4th or 5th chapter. Also, I've been trying to draw little sketches for each chapter, so maybe I'll put those somewhere...
> 
> Another interesting note is that I had a strong dislike of fanfiction and ESPECIALLY shipping until about two months ago. And now I'm writing this... So something happened... 
> 
> Please enjoy. =)

               Eren slowly approached the young boy.  He was wearing the same brown capris that he always wore, despite them being much too big for him.  Eren wondered what the point was in wearing pants that always had to be held up by suspenders, though he mentally scolded himself for being so superficial.  The boy’s light blue jacket, equally oversized, reached down to his knees.  Though most people might have laughed at the poor kid, or perhaps pitied him, for having to wear the same poorly-fitting outfit every single day, Eren thought that the look suited him well.  He even found it endearing.

               Continuing his slow climb up the small, grassy hill towards the boy, Eren couldn’t help but hope that this would finally be the day that he would learn who he was.  So many times, Eren had approached, only to be discovered before he could get close enough to get a good look at this kid.  This time, though, he could tell it would be different because the boy had nowhere to run.  This time he couldn’t flee when he heard Eren approach.  This time, he’d made the mistake of positioning himself on a small cliff with a sharp drop-off on three sides.  Eren could easily block the only remaining path back to the town behind them.  This time, without fail, he would find out just who this boy was.

               As Eren finally reached level ground at the top of the cliff, he was absolutely mesmerized by the site before him.  The boy looked like an angel, now silhouetted by the setting sun.  It made his golden blonde hair even more illustrious than normal.  Eren squinted a bit as he walked closer, enjoying the site of the kid in front of him as well as a view of the beautiful, expansive ocean.  He’d never been to this cliff before, had never seen the water from this high up, but he knew he’d have to make climbing up here a daily ritual, seeing how beautiful the water was with the setting sun’s light dancing upon its rough surface.  The idea of perhaps finding this boy up here again made the idea even more enticing.

               Now only about fifty feet separated the two young boys.  Eren was tempted to hold his breath in order to keep quiet, but he knew that wouldn’t help him.  He’d tried that approach, many times, and every attempt had ended the same way:  with him staring at the back of the fleeing boy.  Despite how athletic Eren was, he had never been able to catch him either, and maybe that was one of the things that frustrated him the most about this boy.  Eren always thought he looked fairly thin and fragile, at least from a distance, so the fact that he was uncatchable was astounding.  This time, though, would be different.

               Eren was now closer than he’d ever gotten to the other boy.  The blonde boy had always sensed Eren by now and would have attempted to run away.  Surely he had heard Eren as he had clumsily climbed the hill, panting a little more than he’d like to admit.  However, he was just standing there, observing the ocean with his back to Eren.  His chin-length hair blew with the ocean breeze, and Eren wondered how he could stand to have it constantly whipping in his face, though he again mentally scolded himself due to the fact that he couldn’t imagine this boy with shorter hair.  Still partially mesmerized by this boy and the prospect of finally being able to engage him had made Eren forget one important thing as he closed the distance between them.  What exactly was it that Eren wanted from this kid?

               “H- Hello,” Eren whispered quietly, desperately hoping not to scare the boy like he had so many times before.  Eren reached an arm out towards the boy, though he was still about fifteen feet away.  As if he had felt Eren’s touch, the boy slowly looked over his shoulder, reluctantly pulling his gaze away from the lovely ocean before him.  And as soon as the boy’s eyes landed on his intruder, Eren was frozen in place. 

               The young boy had the most magnificent eyes that Eren had ever seen.  They were the brightest of sky blue, shining with an iridescence that surpassed the massive ocean and majestic sun behind him.  Eren was completely lost in those eyes.  They were calming and serene, like the water and open sky around him.  They were curious and daring, like the rare blue lightning Eren had seen during a few, intense spring storms.  They were calculating and decisive, like the endless lines of coded information he saw running through the computer systems in his father’s laboratory.  But they were also simultaneously dangerous and hurting, like the tears he’d seen in the eyes of the many ghosts and their visitors around the cemetery at the edge of town.  Somehow, Eren was all at once intrigued, terrified, and in love with this boy’s brilliant eyes.  No.  Not just his eyes.  All of him.

               Hypnotized and unable to move himself from where he was rooted on the hill, Eren tried to extend his reach further towards the boy.  The boy didn’t seem to react much to Eren’s action besides studying him.  That’s when Eren noticed something peculiar about how this boy was looking at him:  he wasn’t afraid.  If he wasn’t scared of Eren, even when they were much closer than ever before, why had he always run off?  Was he playing games?  Was he forbidden to speak to Eren?  Sure, Eren had a reputation around their town of being a tad too adventurous in these dangerous times, but the other children still were allowed to play with him.  Even pretentious, privileged Jean was allowed to spend time with Eren, though they both found it beneath themselves to be associated with each other.  Perhaps this boy had been warned about his antics by Jean?  No.  He’d never seen the two together.  In fact, Eren had never seen this boy around town at all.  He was always wandering around in the forest or weaving chains of flowers together in a field or staring out at the endless ocean like he had been today.

               After what felt like an eternity of being weighed by the boy’s gaze, Eren came back down to earth and decided it was time to move closer.  Slowly, he raised his foot to take a step towards the kid in front of him.  He was hardly concerned by the fact that it felt like his sneakers were incased in cement.  All he wanted to do was get just a little bit closer.  Eren gingerly put down his foot, a step closer to the boy, but that was as close as he would get.

               As soon as his foot made contact with the grassy hill once more, the boy blinked and began to move.  Eren immediately thought the boy was going to run, though he didn’t even reconsider the fact that there was nowhere to go.  However, the boy had no intentions of running.  Instead, he began to dance.

               The blonde boy twirled and glided around the grassy slope effortlessly.  To Eren, it seemed like he was floating, maybe due to some angelic wings that he was now certain this mysterious boy had.  As he watched, Eren seemed to forget how to breathe, even how to stand.  His legs started to shake, and he was forced to sink to his knees.  He wondered why he was so moved by this boy that he knew nothing about, aside from the fact that he was a master at eluding Eren.  Until now.  And apparently he had no problem with being seen, being essentially worshipped by Eren. 

               Minutes passed, and the boy continued his fluid motion, always staying at least far enough away from Eren so that he was physically out of reach.  Eren never wanted to get up, never wanted to look away from the site in front of him, and he was certain that if the boy continued to dance forever, he would have sat there and watched for just as long.  However, the show did not last forever.  The boy had a grand finale planned all along, and Eren didn’t realize what it was until it was too late, until the boy had twirled his way as far back from Eren as possible, until he was taking an impossibly slow step back. 

               Despite the boy’s final actions occurring at a snail’s pace, Eren was too entranced to react.  As the boy shifted his weight over the edge, he gave Eren a sweet smile that twisted into a devious smirk just before he let his head fall back, with the rest of his body, over the sharp drop-off.

               As soon as the boy was actually out of view, the spell was broken, and Eren finally realized what he had just witnessed.  As he thrust himself up onto his shaky legs and sprinted forwards, as if in a desperate attempt to catch the boy despite it being far too late for that, Eren listened for a splash.  However, that was not the sound he heard.  The sound he heard was far less comforting, and it didn’t take Eren long to figure out the source of the heart-crushing, bone-shattering sound. 

               It didn’t occur to Eren that he shouldn’t look.  It didn’t occur to him that it would do absolutely no good.  It didn’t occur to him that it was too late to save the angelic boy who had just smiled at him for the first, and only, time.  None of that was processed as Eren flung himself onto his stomach on the very edge of the cliff and looked down at the water-slicked rocks a dozen stories below him. 

               It was a good thing that that the cliff was as tall as it was because Eren could hardly take the blurry view he had of his angel drowning, despite already being dead, in a pool of his own blood, his golden hair now plastered to the rocks as a messy, red halo. 

               Eren’s vision only got blurrier as he continued to peer down at the boy, wondering why he hadn’t used those wings he surely had to fly away into the setting sun.  The tears began to fall freely as he realized that this was probably his fault.  He really had been scaring the boy, so much so by cornering him that the boy saw no other option but to take his own life.  Eren knew nothing about this boy, but he knew that losing this kid’s life was truly a loss for humanity, perhaps for both the corrupted and pure sides of it. 

               As he finally pulled himself away from the edge of the cliff and brought his legs up to his chest, Eren began to truly sob.  He wanted to scream, but there didn’t seem to be enough air in his lungs for that.  He wasn’t sure what to do now.  He wondered if he should go home and tell his mother or perhaps run to the hospital and tell his father.  Medicine was so advanced these days; perhaps the boy could be saved.  No.  As the image of the boy far below him flashed through his mind, Eren knew every bone in his body was shattered and that every organ had been ripped from its former nesting place.  He could only hope that the death was quick enough to be painless.

               Eren clutched his hair desperately and bowed his head.  He silently began begging the boy he’d never gotten to know for forgiveness.  He chanted apologies and regrets over and over in his head until he couldn’t think straight anymore.  He closed his eyes, but all he could see was that bloody body.  It was engraved in his mind, and before Eren knew what he was doing, he was already begging for the image to be cleansed.  He begged to forget about the boy completely.  He begged to never see his dead corpse in his mind ever again.  He even begged never to be able to remember his beautiful dancing.  He just wanted to forget.  He needed to forget. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the sad first chapter, but please don't let this scare you off. Okay? Please trust me. 
> 
> There will be dark moments, but there will also be plenty of light-hearted adventure. =)
> 
> Edit: Wow. I checked the whole chapter for spelling errors... except the title... I'm so disappointed in myself. To make up for it, the next chapter should be up within the hour. And yes, there will be Pokémon. =)
> 
> Double Edit: So I got the super, special awesome edition of AoT Part 1, and now I'm changing all the names back to the official Funimation spellings. Yay. =P


	2. Carla's First Pokémon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little bit about what's going on in the world as well as a cute, little story about Carla's first Pokémon. =)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah... Sorry about that first chapter. I guess I just wanted to make sure everyone still remembered that Attack on Titan was depressing and that this was an Eremin fic? Let's get started with the Pokémon, shall we? Again, a bit of a slower start, but I think getting to know the world a little up front could be useful. =)

               Suddenly, Eren heard a faint, hollow knocking in the distance.  Slowly, he opened his eyes to look for the source.  He didn’t open his eyes to see the grassy hill but instead his room, looking the same as it ever did.  He glanced to the left and saw his poster of Red the Champion on the wall next to his bed.  He looked to the right and saw his Pokédex sitting where he’d left it on the nightstand.  He looked down at the comforter covering his body, still embellished with emblems of the many gym badges he hoped to collect someday.  Eren wondered if it was all just a dream as he stared up at the ceiling, a bit afraid of what he would see if he closed his eyes again.  So he decided to just lie in bed for a while longer and try his hardest not to think of his dancing, dead angel.

               Meanwhile, Eren’s mother, Carla Jaeger, was downstairs preparing lunch.  She’d allowed Eren to sleep in late today, most likely due to the fact that this was the first day of summer vacation, and he’d actually returned home yesterday with a great report card.  Upon hearing the knock on the door, Carla quickly washed the dough off of her hands and headed for the front door down the hall.

               “Why, hello, Jean.  How are you doing today?  Did you come to play with Eren?” she greeted with a tilt of her head and a pleasant smile.

               “Erm, no,” Jean replied, trying to keep his expression pleasant at the mention of his mortal enemy, though he had been somewhat mentally prepared, considering he was the one to show up on Eren’s doorstep.  “Dad sent me to get him.  He’s wanted at the lab.  Could you let Eren know?  He should know the drill.”

               “Of course.  I’ll relay the message.  Have a nice day, Jean,” Carla replied, seemingly unwavered by the obvious negative reaction to her own son’s name.  Considering their rivalry had been going on for years, she was no longer phased by their games.  She continued to smile as Jean turned to leave while she gently closed the door before going back to lunch preparations.  As she continued to mix spices into the blend of meat before her, Carla decided she had no intention of waking up her son on his first day of vacation, especially for Jean’s sake.  Also, she didn’t want to have to tell him just yet that his father would be leaving on yet another extended research trip tomorrow.

               So it was an hour later before Eren stumbled down the stairs of his own free will, still looking sleepy, despite his wet hair being evidence that he had already taken a shower.  His mother placed a rather large plateful of spaghetti and meatballs in front of him.

               “Good morning,” she greeted, still smiling pleasantly and humming to herself as she began to wash the dishes she had used to make Eren’s meal. 

               “Good—mornin’ to you—too, Mum,” he managed to get out between massive bites of his lunch.  

               Eren continued to eat as he absent-mindedly watched the news that was already playing on the television set nearby.  He had already calmed down a lot since he’d woken up, but he still wanted to avoid any chance of actually thinking about his dream.  The news story, though, was doing nothing to raise his spirits.  It was some story about Team Rocket, as usual, though it appeared this time they’d managed to find a legendary creature thought to be only a myth.  Eren wondered how they could justify messing with these powerful beasts, putting not only themselves, but everyone else, in danger. 

               Team Rocket’s stunts had been getting more and more reckless these days.  They were no longer satisfied with petty crimes and Pokémon theft.  Now, they wanted nothing more than to instill fear in all and take over the world.  Sure, they’d threatened that in the past, but now, they had pretty much achieved their goal.  In certain cities where Team Rocket activity was strongest, folks stayed indoors unless they had hired help to protect them or, of course, Team Rocket authorized their outings.  The group was now an extremist terror group, an extremist terror group that had won.

               ‘Almost won,’ thought Eren.  ‘I’m not afraid of them.’

               “Oh, Eren,” his mother called, rousing him from his thoughts.  “Jean stopped by about an hour and a half ago.” 

               Eren groaned before letting his mother finish.  He had been at war with Jean since he could walk.  If Eren was well off, which he was thanks to his father, Grisha, being a world-renowned doctor of both humans and Pokémon, Jean was just-plain-spoiled, living in a lavish mansion with all the latest tech and security.  It had to cost a fortune considering how difficult those things were to find with Team Rocket essentially in control of global trade now.  Jean even had his own butler who seemingly loved getting bossed around by his “master.”  Eren shuddered at the thought of those two before the twisted idea of having that blonde boy as his own personal servant came to mind.  Eren mentally reprimanded himself yet again for such a terrible thought, though he nearly threw up a second later, remembering the bloody corpse being lapped at by the ocean.

               The idea of that kid being a servant in this wide world wasn’t so bad, though.  These days, so many people were desperate for jobs.  Eren’s father had already offered to get him a servant, but Eren had declined the offer at the time.  He sometimes found himself wishing he could take it back, if only to have the opportunity to prove that he was not beneath Jean.  He wouldn’t allow that so-called “Horse-Face” to beat him at anything, even bossing other people around.

               “Well, he wanted you to go to his father’s lab for some rea—“

               “Holy Helix!!!  The ceremony is today?!?” Eren screamed to no one in particular, considering the fact that he was out the door with his backpack before he’d even finished the statement.

               Carla watched her son blow out of the house, not even bothering to close the door behind him, and took a moment to ponder over what ceremony he could be referring to.  It didn’t take long before she realized that her son was, in fact, ten years old and heading to the local Pokémon research center.  Surely, he was about to receive his first Pokémon.  If times were different, she would have been excited for him.  Instead of making him wait for this traditional selection ceremony, maybe she would have taken him to a safari, one that hadn’t been taken over by Team Rocket, and allowed him to catch a Pokémon on his own.  Or she could have done what her mother did for her.

               When Carla was seven years old, she had been given a single Ultra Ball for her birthday.  She was so excited that she almost raced outside and caught the first Caterpie she saw.  Luckily, her father caught her in time and explained that she should wait to use this Poké Ball on a Pokémon she really, really wanted.  Though at the time, she had argued for the many positive attributes of the Caterpie sitting on the leaf in front of them, she was grateful that she hadn’t thrown the Poké Ball, though her second Pokémon was indeed a Caterpie that she caught with a normal Poké Ball that she’d bought at the local Mart. 

               Carla followed her father’s advice and, every day after school, she would explore a little bit of the wilderness outside of her town.  She saw many Pokémon in the local forests, fields, and rivers.  She saw Pidgey, Weedle, Bellsprout, Oddish, Krabby, Horsea, Ponyta, Psyduck, and many others.  On a few rare occasions, she had seen Pokémon from other regions, but she decided that she wanted one native to her home in Kanto.  All the Pokémon she saw were great options, and she even had dreams to catch one of each someday, but she knew she’d have to start with just one for now.

               It wasn’t until a full month after her birthday, a full month of diligently exploring and evaluating her options, that Carla found that one Pokémon that she currently wanted over all the others, the one that spoke to her.  Bowing her head at a small stream to get a drink of water was a gorgeous, little Vulpix.  Carla knew instantly that this was to be her first Pokémon.

               Despite the fact that she could have probably just thrown her Ultra Ball at this young Vulpix and caught it, Carla decided that wasn’t how she’d want to be caught if she was a Pokémon.  Quietly, she reached into her backpack and pulled out a strawberry Poké Puff.  Holding it out in front of her, Carla began to slowly crawl towards the Vulpix.  She was quickly discovered, and the Vulpix whipped around to look at her.  Despite initially taking a step backward, the Pokémon showed no intentions of running, perhaps deciding Carla looked more like a friend than a threat. 

               Carla placed the Poké Puff on the ground a few feet away from the Vulpix before backing up a bit and watching anxiously.  It didn’t take long for the Vulpix to approach and begin nibbling on the treat.  Apparently she liked it because she finished it off with a few big bites before looking at Carla expectantly.  Carla nodded and pulled a lemon Poké Puff out of her bag next, setting it in front of her.  The Vulpix approached and quickly lapped at the new yellow snack.  After initially pulling back after that first taste of the more sour Puff, the Vulpix returned to scarf up the rest. 

               After a moment, the Vulpix looked up into Carla’s eyes and must have liked what it saw because she decided to boldly climb onto the girl’s lap.  Carla slowly brought up her hand to pet the Vulpix.  She had never felt something as soft and warm as this Pokémon’s fluffy tales.  For a moment, she wondered if the warmth was due to the creature’s fire affinity, but she was truthfully too excited to care. 

               After a few minutes of stroking the soft Vulpix nuzzling into her lap, Carla decided she had to head home or her family would start to worry.  Slowly, still afraid of scaring away her new friend, Carla reached into her bag and pulled out the Ultra Ball.  She didn’t throw it at the Pokémon.  Instead, she held it out for the Vulpix to clearly see.  For a moment, the Vulpix studied the Ball and the girl holding it, and Carla began to wonder if the creature had ever seen one of these devices before.  It didn’t take long before she was pulled out of her thoughts by the Vulpix’s sweet cry, and Carla could have sworn she saw her nod before looking up at her and waiting with as much excitement as Carla was currently feeling. 

               With a smile, Carla let the Ultra Ball fall from her hand and land on the willing Vulpix.  She watched as her first Pokémon was quickly pulled into its new home.  As she got up and began running towards her home, cradling the now-occupied Poké Ball, Carla could only hope that the Vulpix was comfortable.  She couldn’t wait to show her family and begin training with her new Pokémon.  As she ran up the path to her front door, it finally occurred to her that she hadn't chosen a name for her Vulpix.  She knew she’d think of something suitable sooner or later though.

               Pulling herself out of her memories, Carla watched as Crimson followed Eren out the door and down the path in front of their home.  Carla had to laugh at her seven-year-old self for naming her first Pokémon after its initial color, but she had to admit that the connotation seemed to suit her faithful companion.  It seemed to suggest that she was loyal, regal, and brave, traits that Crimson had proven to possess over the years.  Even now that Crimson was a golden Ninetales instead of a young, red Vulpix, the name still seemed to fit.  Thinking back, Carla was happy that she hadn’t caught that Caterpie right away because it probably would have ended up with a name like Green or Olive or Lime. 

               Crimson stopped at the edge of the path and looked back towards Carla through the window.  Carla shook her head and smiled, trying to reassure her Pokémon that Eren wasn’t in danger.  Really, they all should be used to his overly-excited outbursts by now, but Crimson was always willing to jump into action to make sure he was protected.  Luckily, their quiet, little town was rarely visited by members of Team Rocket, and when it was, the occasion was typically money and resource collection, not the terrible crimes that were starting to become major problems in the bigger cities.  Every single day now, Carla watched the news to see story after story of Team Rocket committing acts of arson, theft, and even rape.  They’d recently begun murdering dignitaries to extinguish competition or even going so far as to kidnap their children to get as much money and power handed over to them as possible.  Things were getting out of hand, but the police forces had essentially either been exterminated or taken up arms alongside Team Rocket.  And things were only getting worse.

               Though her silent reassurance had been enough to convince Crimson to return to the house, Carla was far from convinced about Eren’s safety herself.  If times were different, she’d be very excited for her son to get his first Pokémon.  However, these days the last thing she wanted was for her son to gain what he needed to leave home.  When she had been a child, it was perfectly acceptable and standard for ten-year-old children to leave home with their inexperienced first Pokémon and go on an adventure.  Nowadays, the earliest that children left home was when they were twelve, after a good two years of solid training with their chosen companions.  Though she knew it would be a few more years before Eren left home on his journey, Carla still couldn’t completely hold back her worry.  She might even forbid him from leaving when the time comes, especially with the way things were going with Team Rocket’s increasing crime sprees.  For now, though, she would try to be supportive and help the boy train.  Maybe she could help prepare him for the cruel world just outside of their small town.  Besides, she thought with a loving glance towards Crimson, Carla was terribly bored of her duties of being the perfect housewife and was long overdue for an exciting Pokémon battle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coming up next: Eren's first Pokémon! Yay! =)


	3. 104th Selection Ceremony (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The 104th annual Shiganshina Pokémon selection ceremony has a shaky start thanks to some rowdy kids and one whiny one. =)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Let's start introducing some of the 104th kiddos, shall we? =)

               As he made his way towards Professor Kirschtein’s research laboratory on the other side of town, Eren’s mind couldn’t help but wander back to that boy from his dreams.  As far back as he could remember, Eren had been having strange dreams and visions of that kid.  As Eren grew, so did the boy.  Now that Eren was ten, the other boy also appeared to be about ten.  Eren often found himself wondering if this boy was just some imaginary friend, nothing but a figment of his imagination.  He was certain that he’d never met the boy before, yet he always looked exactly the same in his dreams, besides the continuous aging that mirrored Eren’s own.  Besides, every time that Eren had tried to give the boy some sort of name, since he should be able to name his own imaginary friend, he got a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach, and he just knew he was wrong and, beyond that, had no right to be giving this kid a name.  Surely, he already had one.

               As the red and white roof of the local Pokémon research facility that Jean’s father headed came into view, Eren couldn’t help but wonder if the blonde boy would be heading to a similar place today in order to pick his first Pokémon too.  Or perhaps he already had one.  Or maybe, Eren pondered with perhaps a bit too much enthusiasm, he would travel to this very lab and Eren could finally be united with his dream friend. 

               Panting and exhausted from running across town at top speeds, Eren barreled through the doors and into the lab.  He took a moment to catch his breath before attempting his incredibly-rehearsed apology.

               “I’m so sorry for being late, Professor Kirschtein” Eren panted between slow inhales, still recovering.  “I know being late is very irresponsible, but, uh, I assure you that I’m ready for my first Pokémon.  I hope you can believe me and that I’m not too late for—“

               He was cut off before he could finish his speech by the obnoxious laughter of Jean Kirschtein.  Looking up, Eren saw Jean cackling and leaning against a table with five Poké Balls on it.  Surely that meant he wasn’t too late to receive one. 

               “Way to go, Jaeger!  You missed the test!” Jean managed to spit out between bouts of laughter.  He just loved seeing Eren having a bad day.  “I even came to get you!  What were you even doing?  Playing with your dolls again?” 

               Eren really didn’t want to remember the day that his mother had sent Jean up to his room to deliver a new, updated Pokédex only to discover Eren playing with his Pokémon stuffed animals.  That was several years ago, and Jean still hadn’t let it go, despite the fact that Eren couldn’t quite figure out what was so bad about practicing his battle strategies with soft, cuddly models.

               “You’ll just have to wait until next year to—“ 

               “Jean, that’s enough.  Eren is just in time for the selection ceremony,” Professor Kirschtein stated, cutting off his son.  “Actually, he gets to pick first.” 

               “What?!?  But that’s not fair!  He didn’t even take the exam!  I got the best score!” Jean exclaimed, shooting glares at both Eren and his father. 

               “Actually, you got the second best score.  I’m rather disappointed actually.  You had all the resources available to you to get a perfect score, but Marco, here, managed to beat you,” Professor Kirschtein corrected.

               Eren watched as Jean began to glare furiously at his butler, Marco Bodt.  Marco ducked his head and backed away from his place at Jean’s side, muttering apologies and explanations that he had just gotten lucky with his guesses.

               “I can’t believe this!  I’m gonna get a stupid Pokémon because of all this bullshit!” Jean pouted, not caring that he was either hurting or irritating everyone in the room.

               “If you don’t watch yourself, Jean, I’ll make _you_ wait until next year,” Professor Kirschtein said, hoping to put an end to his son’s whining.

               Jean gasped and decided it was time to shut up as Professor Kirschtein gave Eren a warm smile.  For a moment, Eren wondered if the two were really related. 

               “With respect, Sir, and as much as I hate to say it, Jean is kinda right.  I don’t deserve to go first, especially if I missed the written exam,” Eren mumbled quietly, glancing from the silently seething Jean to his cowering butler and lastly to his unphased father.  “I’m very grateful to you for even still granting me a chance to receive a Pokémon.  I’ll even take the last one.”

               “First off, all five of these Pokémon are wonderful companions in their own ways, though I can understand wanting to have first choice.  No one will be disappointed, I can assure you.  In fact, after looking at all of the answers from the exams, I think all of you will receive the exact Pokémon you want with no competition.  That being said, I should explain that the reason you get to select first, Eren, is because of your father.  I still owe him for something that happened long ago, and he requested that you get first selection when the time for this ceremony came.  Not only that, but I also know that you have sufficient knowledge of Pokémon ecology and battle techniques from your parents, meaning you would have done great on the exam anyways,” Professor Kirschtein stated, glancing towards the small pile of exam papers on a nearby desk.

               Eren knew all about the written exam.  These days, exams were used to determine the order of Pokémon selection, especially with big groups.  Though five wasn’t too bad, this was the easiest way to assure that there would be no conflict since the order would be solely based on how hard the children had studied the creatures they would be receiving.  This was also a good way to be certain that the Pokémon would go to suitable homes and be properly cared for both on and off the battlefield. 

               Eren simply nodded towards Professor Kirschtein, still feeling a little uneasy about the favoritism and a little curious as to why this man felt he owed his father for something.  Still, Eren took a little solace knowing that there shouldn’t be any conflict between them during the selection.  He just hoped Professor Kirschtein was right, especially considering the extreme rivalry between himself and Jean.  Surely his father was aware of this, and yet, he was still confident everything would work out.  Maybe Jean’s father had obtained a special Pokémon that he knew Jean really wanted, and it would be obvious to everyone else that they shouldn’t take it.  If that were the case, though, Eren was pretty sure that would just make him want it more, if only to piss off Jean.  After all, that _was_ his favorite hobby.

               “Umm, Professor?” Marco whispered, still a bit farther away from Jean than normal.  “Should I go get the others?  And the guests?”

               Professor Kirschtein nodded, and Marco quickly scurried out a back door to an outdoor area that Eren knew was full of Pokémon.  Just behind the lab were acres upon acres of ranch land for Pokémon of every type.  Here they could be raised, studied, and rehabilitated in expansive areas similar to their home environments while still being safe and protected.  Eren wondered how Professor Kirschtein took care of so many Pokémon with such little help, especially since he was sure that Jean was no help at all to his father.  Eren couldn’t comprehend why Jean would waste an opportunity to work with all of these amazing creatures.  Surely he had nothing better to do, especially since everything deemed trivial in Jean’s life was dealt with by his butler.

               Eren remembered back to the day he had first seen sweet, little Marco following Jean around on the playground in kindergarten.  At first, Eren thought Marco was just a new kid who had made the unfortunate decision to befriend the most obnoxious kid in town.  However, Eren knew something was up when Marco quite literally brought Jean a juice box balanced on a silver platter during recess and, instead of playing with the other children, was content with just following him around.  When Eren confronted little Marco about his odd behavior, he had said he worked for Jean now, just like how his parents were working for Jean’s father. 

               Eren found it a little horrifying that Marco’s parents were so desperate for money that they forced their five-year-old son to take care of another five-year-old.  However, Eren soon realized that Marco’s parents both worked long hours in Professor Kirschtein’s lab and Pokémon ranch too, and yet, they still lived in a very small house close to the ocean where they were often seen fishing in the evenings.  Though they had many sources of income, and the Kirschteins paid the Bodt family handsomely for their services, they never seemed to move up from their lowly financial status.  It made Eren think the money must be funneling elsewhere.  Perhaps they had a debt to Team Rocket leftover from before they moved to the sleepy little town of Shiganshina five years ago.

               Eren ripped himself out of his nostalgia when he saw Marco return from the backdoor with company.  Foolishly, Eren began scanning the crowd of entering children and adults for the blonde boy from his dreams.  However, the crowd was small and spread out enough in the large lab that he was certain that the kid wasn’t among them.  Sighing, Eren took a look around to see if he recognized anyone. 

               Standing near the back exit, Eren spotted Annie Leonhart, Bertholdt Hoover, and Reiner Braun.  They were all eleven and had been in his position last year.  Eren had remembered watching them select their Pokémon the previous year.  It had been a tough year for the village, and the group had three fairly random Pokémon to choose from, though that didn’t make it any less special.  Reiner had gone first and selected Aron, the Iron Armor Pokémon and had given it the oh-so-appropriate name of Armor.  Bertholdt had allowed Annie to select next, effectively choosing for both of them.  Annie was quick to choose Torchic, the Chick Pokémon, and had given it the ironic name of Titan.  Bertholdt was left with a flopping, flailing Magikarp, the, yes, Fish Pokémon.  He must have been annoyed with Annie because he seemed determined to one-up her ridiculous name by naming his somewhat pathetic fish a cool name like Colossus.

               Despite the odd options last year, Eren would say that it all worked out because he knew that all three of the kids were very happy with each of their now-fully-evolved first Pokémon.  He’d watched them train and battle each other countless times in the past year, and he couldn’t wait to learn from them after he made his selection.  Eren noticed that they were watching very anxiously, but maybe they were all just curious as to what odd Pokémon had been assembled for this year’s bigger group.

               Also among the crowd was a young girl named Mikasa Ackermann, standing quietly with her parents, off to the side.  Eren didn’t know too much about her because she had just moved to town a few months ago.  He did know that she was only nine, and therefore would have to wait until next year to receive her first Pokémon.  Eren wanted to laugh when he noticed that Mikasa was fidgeting with a ridiculously large, red bow tied into her hair.  It kept flopping down into her face, and it was obvious that she just wanted to rip the thing off and throw it across the room.  After several attempts to calm the misbehaving ribbon, her mother knelt down to retie it, but Mikasa just grabbed it out of her mother’s hands, folded it in half, and tied it around her neck like a chocker.  Ignoring her mother’s protests, Mikasa looked at her reflection in a shiny beaker nearby and gave herself a nod of approval, certain that this was much better.

               Eren scanned the rest of the crowd, only seeing adults and parents from his village taking up the remaining space in the lab.  He couldn’t help but wonder where the other two that would be picking with them today were.  As soon as he had made up his mind to ask Professor Kirschtein, Eren’s question was answered as Conny Springer and Sasha Braus came charging through the back door and into the lab on a stampeding Tauros.  Everyone in the lab started screaming and running towards the front exit, trying to avoid being trampled, but Professor Kirschtein had no intentions of letting this sacred ceremony be ruined by the antics of these two children.

               “Telekinesis,” he commanded calmly to an Alakazam that no one saw him summon due to the panic.

               His Alakazam effortlessly lifted the Tauros and its riders off the ground, preventing any damage from occurring to the laboratory.  Eren sighed and watched as Conny and Sasha were placed next to the table with the Poké Balls while the Tauros was swiftly taken outside.  After a few awkward moments, everyone regained their previous composure and returned to their places to observe the ceremony.  After the back door had been closed and, this time, locked, Professor Kirschtein called his Alakazam back to its Poké Ball and turned his attention back to the children in front of him. 

               Marco was hiding behind Jean who was hiding behind Eren, though he would later adamantly deny this fact when Eren tried to retell the story.  Eren’s subconscious goal during the scare must have been to protect the helpless Poké Balls on the table because he had essentially thrown himself between the stampeding Tauros and the defenseless Pokémon.  Conny and Sasha were still seated on the ground in an ungraceful pile, looking more excited than scared.  There was a weird silence in the room for a few seconds before Sasha spoke up.

               “That was… AWESOME!  Did you guys see that?!?  We rode a Tauros!” she exclaimed, jumping up from her place on the ground and dusting herself off. 

               “Let’s go do it again!” Conny offered, springing to his feet and preparing to run off again.

               “You could have gotten us all killed!” Jean yelled, collecting himself again and putting a good ten feet between himself and Eren.  “Why don’t you morons just go home and leave—“

               “Jean, I told you to behave,” Professor Kirschtein scolded. 

               “Me?!?  What about these two?” he retorted, gesturing wildly towards Conny and Sasha next to him.  “Forget about hurting us!  They could have ruined your lab, all your work!  I mean, what if they—“

               “Enough.  Nothing bad happened, so there’s no more need to discuss it.  We’re well past show time, so we’d better get started.  Surely you don’t want to be rude to all of these people, right, Jean?” Professor Kirschtein said flatly, voice neutral despite the subtle accusation in his words.

               “No, Sir,” Jean mumbled, dropping his gaze as he pretended to fix his vest for the third time. 

               “Good.  Now if you all can behave for just a few minutes, we can all be on our way shortly, and you can all go play with your new companions.  Now, are there any questions before we begin?” Professor Kirschtein asked.

               Eren could think of a million questions to ask at that moment, but he surely wasn’t going to bring them up now.  He was dying to get this process started and find out who his new companion would be.  Maybe he’d ask some of his many questions after he’d chosen his first Pokémon.  Obviously everyone else was thinking the same thing because he looked to his side and saw the other children all shaking their heads. 

               “Alright then,” Professor Kirschtein began.  “Let the 104th annual Shiganshina Pokémon selection ceremony begin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all noticed the one thing that Annie, Bertholdt, and Reiner's Pokémon all have in common. Such a nice parallel, I think. Thank you for reading. =)


	4. Eren's First Pokémon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren, Jean, Sasha, Conny, and Marco pick their first Pokémon.  
> There's also a little backstory about each of them and Mikasa.  
> Yay for plot and character development. =)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Pokémon! Finally! This chapter ended up being longer than all the other ones combined. Sorry. =)

               Eren was so excited that he felt like he was about to explode with anticipation.  As Professor Kirschtein moved to stand on the opposite side of the long table that held the five Poké Balls, Eren couldn’t help but guess which ones were waiting inside for them.

               “Alright.  Eren, you’ll be up first, followed by Marco, then Jean, then Sasha, and finally Conny,” Professor Kirschtein said as he reached for a few papers next to the line of Poké Balls. 

               “I’m last?!?  But I studied really, really hard, Professor!  I swear!” Conny cried, turning a little red due to his embarrassment.  Eren heard Reiner laugh a little behind them.

               “And you did very well, Conny.  You all did.  But don’t worry.  You’ll still receive a great Pokémon today,” Professor Kirschtein replied calmly while Sasha patted Conny roughly on the shoulder.  “Now then, as for your choices—  Yes, Marco?”  Everyone glanced to the side and noticed quiet Marco with his hand raised politely.

               “Sir, if it’s okay with you, I’d like to go last,” he whispered rather sheepishly, dropping his gaze to the floor.

               “Very well, then—“ Professor Kirschtein began before being cut off once again by his son.

               “Come on, Marco!  Don’t do that!  You earned this.  For once in your life, just accept something you’ve earned…” Jean muttered, resting a hand on Marco’s shoulder. 

               It was obvious to Eren that Marco was just trying to please Jean, especially after he hissy-fit about having such a late pick.  Eren also knew that while Marco was often somewhat of a push-over, if he set his mind on something, you could be certain that Marco would follow through.  His decision had been made, and everyone, especially the guilt-stricken Jean, knew that there was no further need to discuss it.

               “This year, we have a special set of Pokémon for you to choose from.  We’ve managed to collect five Pokémon of different types, and they are all native to Kanto,” Professor Kirschtein began.

               Eren could feel the anticipation growing.  This was just what he wanted to hear.  Ever since he had heard the story of how his mother had met Crimson, Eren knew that he wanted his first Pokémon to be a Kanto-native species. 

               “Beyond that, we have an extra special treat.  Three of your options are the original, so –called Starter Pokémon.  As you all know, these were the first three Pokémon to be offered to children your age back when these ceremonies first started.  Unfortunately, they are becoming harder to find, but, yes, among your choices are a Bulbasaur, a Charmander, and a Squirtle.”

               Eren could hardly believe what he was hearing.  The opportunity to follow in the footsteps of Pokémon Masters before him and choose a traditional “Starter” Pokémon to be his first was a true honor.  He wondered how in the world his small town had been able to afford them, for it had been a long time since any of them were seen in the wild. 

               “In addition to these, we were supposed to have a Pikachu, the staple Electric type, if you will.  Unfortunately, Team Rocket has been targeting certain Electric type Pokémon lately, and we couldn’t make that happen.  Instead, we have another Kanto Electric type, a Voltorb.  Lastly, we have Number 143—“

               “SNORLAX!!!!!” Sasha yelled at the top of her lungs.  The lab was silent for a moment before bursting into laughter.  “What?!?” she yelled defensively.

               “Yes, a Snorlax, a very sturdy species that is still a favorite today.  I’ll even throw in a Poké Flute, just in case.  Technically, Snorlax is an evolved form of Munchlax, but, as I’m sure you’re all aware, Snorlax tend to migrate to Kanto once they evolve.  It’s not entirely clear why this happens, but as a result, it has become somewhat accepted to categorize Snorlax as a Kanto Pokémon.  Now that you know your options, let’s get started.  Eren—“

               Professor Kirschtein was cut off one more time when the front door of his laboratory opened.  The other guests began to murmur when they saw two men dressed in white lab coats walk in.  Eren recognized one of them instantly as his father.  His long, brunette hair was tucked behind his ears as he ignored the whispers and silently took his place beside Professor Kirschtein who greeted him warmly.  As Dr. Grisha Jaeger removed his glasses to clean them on the hem of his shirt, Eren glanced to the other gentleman that had come with him. 

               Eren had never seen this new man before, and it was most likely him that was causing the unease amongst the townspeople.  Jean even cast Eren a look that seemed to ask if he knew who this man was, causing Eren to shake his head.  The newcomer had long blonde hair pulled back into a loose ponytail, and when he finally took a moment to look down and examine the children, Eren noticed that the man had ridiculously blue eyes.  Eren couldn’t stop himself from staring at those eyes that looked so familiar.  Could this man really have some relation to that boy from his dreams?  Unfortunately, Eren would have to wait until later for an explanation because it seemed Professor Kirschtein didn’t want to waste any more time on distractions.

               “Eren, it’s your choice.  Which companion would you like?” Professor Kirschtein asked, still sounding calm as he clicked a button on the underside of the table.  A hologram of each of the Pokémon they had to choose from appeared above their respective Poké Balls.  Professor Kirschtein picked up a clipboard and took a pen from a pocket of his lab coat.  He, along with everyone else in the room, was watching Eren make his choice. 

               Nodding, Eren took a step closer to the table and looked at the holograms of the Pokémon.  All were worthy choices for a first Pokémon, but Eren knew which one suited him best.  The weird look he saw in the blonde man’s eye was another reason Eren decided not to waste any time on his decision.  A moment later, Eren was retreating to his spot in line with the other kids, clutching the Poké Ball containing Charmander.

               It was an easy decision, really.  Not only had his mother’s first Pokémon been of the same type, Eren had always felt a connection with Fire type Pokémon.  Eren was everything that fire seemed to stand for:  relentless, impulsive, confident, determined.  There was no better option for him. 

               “Eren has chosen Charmander,” Professor Kirschtein announced as the Charmander hologram flickered off.  Eren noticed that no one in the room seemed surprised, nodding and smiling with approval.  Eren noticed Jean glaring at him. 

               “What?  You wanted this one?” Eren questioned.

               “Eww.  Not anymore.  You ruined it,” Jean spat back.

               “You know what, Jean?  I always knew your first Pokémon should be a Fire type, but it wouldn’t be a Charmander,” Eren stated with a grin, trying to hide it by looking forward.

               “What are you getting at, Jaeger?” Jean growled, stepping forward to select next.

               Placing a hand on his shoulder, Eren leaned forward to whisper, “We all know that you deserve someone of your own kind.  Perhaps a Ponyta, huh, Horse-Face?”

               Jean whipped around, prepared to punch Eren square in the face until his father coughed rather conspicuously from behind the lab table.  Jean forced himself, rather reluctantly, to stop his fist just before it’d reached Eren’s grinning face.  He shot pointed glares at Sasha and Conny who were doubled over, choking from laughing so hard.  Even loyal Marco was snickering, despite desperately trying to hide it behind his hand.

               Turning back towards the table to hide his red face, Jean stated, “You should really come up with a new insult, Jaeger.  It’s really not that funny.”

               “What’s that saying, Jean?  If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it?  It always pisses you off, so it’s good enough for—“ Eren began before he was cut off by his own father’s glare.  Eren dropped his gaze to the floor.

               Not even five seconds later, Jean had returned to his side with a Poké Ball. 

               As Eren looked up to see what Jean had selected, Professor Kirschtein announced, “Jean has selected a Squirtle.”

               The giant grin on Jean’s smug horse-face told Eren exactly why he’d chosen the Water type.  By this time in his life, Eren was convinced that the only reason that Jean existed was to bring him down.  Of course, Eren’s choice of the Fire type naturally meant that Jean had to choose the Water type, just to extinguish Eren’s hopes and dreams of ever being able to beat his rival in battle.  That being said, Eren still believed that he’d win, someday.  He might have to ask the older kids for some advice though.

               As he watched Jean examine his new Poké Ball out of the corner of his eye, Eren thought back to the incident that had started their epic rivalry.  He’d never forget that day in preschool six years ago when their teacher had asked all of the children to draw their favorite Pokémon.  After doodling for about thirty minutes, it was time to present to the class.  Eren remembered Jean marching to the front and holding his drawing over his head.  It was a bit hard to see from his place near the back of the classroom and the picture was far from being physiologically accurate, but Eren had no doubt that he recognized Jean’s favorite Pokémon.  It was the same one that was drawn even less gracefully on Eren’s paper:  Yveltal.  Eren knew that the Destruction Pokémon was obviously the coolest, bestest, most awesomest Pokémon there was, but he’d assumed that Jean was too dumb to realize that.  Not only had he managed to figure out what the best Pokémon was, but he’d beaten Eren to it and was now explaining to the class just how great the Legendary was.  Eren tried to sink into the floor as he heard the class ‘oo and ah’ at Jean’s description, but his attempts to disappear managed to only make him more noticeable.  His teacher made him present his drawing next.  Everyone laughed when Eren held up his picture, hiding his face behind it, and sheepishly admitted to having the same favorite Pokémon as Jean.  Eren didn’t even need to hear what Jean had to say about the situation to know that the two of them would be enemies for the rest of their lives.

               Eren rolled his eyes and tried to ignore the internal count of how many times Jean had bested him in his short life.  It was much higher than he would like to admit.  And it wasn’t that Eren hated Jean, exactly.  It infuriated him to no end to think that perhaps the real reason that they clashed so often was because they were so similar.  Like Eren, Jean was bound and determined to become a great Pokémon Master someday.  They both longed to leave their small town, though what they seemed to be looking for varied a little.  Eren longed for the thrill of exploration and adventure while Jean seemed more motivated by the prospect of fame.  Perhaps he too was in it for the adventure but was putting up a front to appear cool in front of the other kids.  Eren believed that, but he could also see why Jean sought to make a name for himself.  Both he and Eren lived in the shadows of their fathers, brilliant minds at the front of Pokémon biological research.  It had become a silent contest to see who could be known as anything besides ‘Professor Kirschtein’s kid’ or ‘Dr. Jaeger’s son’ first. 

               “Sasha, you’re up next,” Professor Kirschtein announced. 

               It took about 1.3 seconds for Sasha to react to her name being called, sprint forward to the table, grab the Poké Ball that held the Snorlax, and return to her spot in the lineup.  A few seconds after she’d returned to her place between Jean and Conny, the crowd burst into laughter.

               “What?” she squeaked defensively, hugging the Poké Ball to her chest.  “What’s wrong with being decisive?”

               “Nothing at all.  For those of you who may have missed it,” Professor Kirschtein spoke up, trying to be heard above the giggles, “Sasha has selected the Snorlax.”

               Eren leaned forward a bit so he could see past Jean.  As he watched Sasha cuddling with her new Poké Ball, he couldn’t help thinking about how quirky this girl had just proved to be in the last couple months.  Thinking back now, it was very odd to remember how Sasha had pretended for years to be this polite, little princess, always being sure to thank people profusely if they did something for her and apologize relentlessly if she accidently wronged someone, even in the smallest way.  Since they’d first met in preschool, that’s all Eren knew her as:  that really polite girl who sits up too straight, never talks without being called on, and always follows the rules.  That is, until Jean’s mother brought a Poké Ball-shaped birthday cake to school to celebrate her son’s tenth birthday about two months ago.  Everyone was a bit confused when she had handed a slice of the cake to Sasha and the poor girl didn’t seem to know how to react.  With shaky hands, she reached out and took the little paper plate and returned to her seat in silence.  For several minutes, she just stared at the cake while everyone else gobbled theirs up and went to beg for more.  With the encouragement of the rest of the class, Conny approached her, determined to get to the bottom of her weird behavior.

               “Hey.  It’s not gonna bite you,” he stated, standing just in front of Sasha’s desk where she was still studying the cake.  “In fact, Mrs. Kirschtein makes really good sweets.  You’ll like it.”

               “I… can’t eat it…” she mumbled, not looking up from the plate in front of her.

               “Why not?  You allergic or something?” Conny asked, not sounding very sympathetic to Sasha’s internal dilemma.

               “No…  I just… shouldn’t…  I’m only supposed to eat what my parents pack me…” she replied quietly, still refusing to look up.

               “That’s dumb.  Here.  I’ll help you,” Conny said with a grin, and before anyone could respond to his words or the following actions, he’d scooped up the cake in front of Sasha and shoved it at her mouth.

               The class gasped but eagerly watched to see what she would do about the situation.  Conny stood there grinning, seemingly proud of himself for taking care of the problem, until he noticed Sasha was tearing up.

               “Way to go, Springer,” Jean jeered from behind him.

               “Yeah, Conny.  I didn’t know you liked to make girls cry,” Annie had said with a scowl. 

               “Wait!  No!  I was just trying to—“ Conny began, but he didn’t seem to know what to say. 

               Eren had watched as poor Conny dashed to Mrs. Kirschtein, who was still too stunned to move, and grabbed the entire roll of paper towels before dashing back to Sasha.  He ripped off a piece and began frantically wiping the cake off of her tear-stained face.  What he didn’t expect was to be instantly shoved to the floor by an angry-looking Sasha.  She was towering over him now, trembling, hands clenched into fists at her sides.

               “I’m sorry!” Conny screeched, scooting away on the floor.  “I really am!  Have mercy!”

               “Come on, Sasha.  You know Conny.  He doesn’t always think before he acts,” Marco offered, trying to keep the situation from escalating.

               Sasha still hadn’t reacted further.  She just stood there, shaking, looking down at Conny with an odd expression that didn’t look quite like anger.  Before anyone else could step forward to separate the two, young Mikasa appeared beside the quivering Sasha.  Mikasa placed a hand gently onto Sasha’s shoulder, but her words were harsh, laced with a dangerous warning.

               “I won’t allow anyone to hurt my friends,” Mikasa said, glancing from Conny back to Sasha, “even my other friends.”

               The air in the room tensed as everyone waited to see what the two girls would do.  Conny looked up at the two of them, terrified but unable to move from his spot before them.  He, and everyone else in the room, knew Mikasa could do some serious damage if she wanted to.

               Mikasa had just arrived to Shiganshina a few months before, during Christmas break.  She looked sweet enough, but looks can be deceiving.  This was definitely true when it came to Mikasa.  During that vacation, Jean had decided to host a Christmas party at his dad’s laboratory for the kids of Shiganshina.  It was also the first time many of them would meet Mikasa.  Eren remembered being so excited to start the Secret Santa game, desperate to see if he could covertly steal back the Yveltal plushie that he had brought to the gift exchange.  He hardly listened to Jean as he introduced Mikasa to the rest of the kids and stated that she would get to go first.  Eren was horrified to see Mikasa scoop up the present that Eren had brought from its place far under the tree.  He had tried his best to hide it, and he had been sure that his terrible attempt at wrapping it would have put anyone off from selecting it.  The only explanation Eren could come up with was that Mikasa had X-ray vision and could see the awesome toy inside the ugly box.  For a moment, Eren thought that he would wind up hating her as much as Jean. 

               Eren was just about to mentally add her to the list he kept in his mind of people he didn’t like when a thug sporting the classic black Team Rocket jumpsuit burst through the door, followed by a Rhydon that could barely fit inside.  Sasha screamed, diving to hide behind Conny.  Jean swore in his surprise as he leapt to his feet, though he surely had no way to deal with this intruder.  His parents were a few blocks away at his house because no one was expecting trouble on Christmas Day.  It’d been years since the last attack by Team Rocket in Shiganshina.  Surely he was just there to steal from the lab, not disturb the Christmas party of children. 

               Eren’s hatred towards Team Rocket grew even greater that day.  As he jumped to his feet, preparing to charge at the goon, he saw Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie stand, each reaching towards the single Poké Balls they each had strapped at their hips.  Before they even had a chance to call out their Pokémon, a figure rushed past them all, straight towards the Team Rocket grunt.  Eren hardly had time to process the quick flurry of punches, kicks, and precisely-aimed jabs that resulted in the grunt and his Rhydon falling to the floor, unconscious.

               Jaws dropped when the kids all saw little Mikasa Ackermann standing over the motionless figures.  She patted down her over-sized sweater with Rudolph, the red-nosed Sawsbuck, on it and walked back to her un-opened Secret Santa gift.  Without a word, she sat back down and started tearing through the wrapping paper, the other kids still watching her with bugged-out eyes.

               “Ooh.  Yveltal,” Mikasa cooed in a strangely dead-pan voice, finally cutting through the awkward silence in the room.  “Thank you, Secret Santa.”

               “…You… just…,” Jean started, but his voice faded to nothing because he had no idea what to say.

               “How in the world did you learn to do that?!?” Eren finally asked for everyone else.

               The other children waited for Mikasa to answer, watching her face intensely.  She still had yet to show any real signs of emotion. 

               “Do what?  You don’t know how to unwrap a present?” she asked flatly.

               Eren sank to his knees in both frustration and awe of Mikasa.  Obviously her take-down of the Team Rocket lackey was nothing to her.  He exchanged looks with the other kids, but no one seemed to know what to do next or how they were supposed to react to this girl.

               “If you guys aren’t going to open these presents, then I will,” Mikasa mentioned casually, glancing to the Christmas tree still lined with gifts.

               “Me next!  Me next!” Conny yelled and dived to grab a gift bag, and apparently that was enough to clear the tension from the lab.

               The party returned to normal, though people were suddenly a lot more interested in Mikasa’s presence.  Everyone was having a great time singing Christmas carols until their cheerful chanting was interrupted by a groan from behind them.  The previously unconscious Team Rocket grunt was waking up, but as soon as he saw the girl who had taken him down approach once more, he hastily called back his Rhydon and fled the scene.  No one bothered to chase after him.  After all, there were five more verses to sing in “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”

               Ever since that day, everyone knew not to mess with Mikasa.  Not only was she very strong and skilled without any real explanation as to why, but she was also very brave, willing to put her life on the line for her friends.  Situations where her friends looked like they might get into fights with each other were often very hard on her, and she had been known to grab one kid and pull them away in order to diffuse the situation.  It was normally Eren that she was dragging away from whoever he had managed to piss off, but not always.  This situation was different though, and something stopped Mikasa from just carrying Conny away from the scene.  She must have sensed that there was no real danger for either of them.

               “Hurt him…?” Sasha asked quietly. 

               Mikasa nodded and watched her, still waiting to interfere if need be.  Conny still watched them both, looking like he wanted to dart away but couldn’t figure out how to move his legs.

               “I don’t wanna hurt him!  In fact, I could kiss him right now!” she squealed before diving onto Conny and giving him a back-breaking hug.

               “Wha—What?!?” he squeaked, not really returning the hug due to his extreme confusion and growing embarrassment, evident from his cheeks turning pink.

               Mikasa stepped back, certain that the situation was now safe.  Eren and Jean exchanged a look before they realized how horrible it was that they had looked to each other for answers.  Marco noticed and tried to keep down the giggle that was threatening to escape his tightly-sealed lips.  He turned his attention back to Sasha who was still clinging to Conny on the floor, her face still smeared with cake.

               “Pardon me, but I think we’re all a bit confused as to what’s going on,” Marco offered, and everyone else in the room nodded.

               Sasha seemed to have finally regained a little bit of her composure, despite still looking like a mess on the outside.  She released Conny, who she’d basically been suffocating, and leaned back to sit in front of him.  She took an index finger and smeared some of the frosting off her cheek, looking down at it thoughtfully.

               “You see…  I haven’t had sugar for years…  Or, well, anything besides vegetables, really…” she started, still not looking up.  “I used to be a pretty hyper little kid, but my parents thought something was wrong with me.  They took me to Dr. Jaeger, and he suggested that they try to limit my sugar intake if they thought I was acting up.  They went a little overboard though, and I’ve basically been living off of celery since I was three or four.  And after they took away all my yummy foods, they started taking me to the city for etiquette lessons.  If I did anything that they didn’t like at home, I was punished with no food…  So I…  That’s why I try to keep my mouth shut most of the time…”

               Sasha continued to stare at the frosting on her finger as if it might be able to tell her answers to all of her problems.  When it offered no advice, she quietly began to cry.  Mikasa knelt beside her and placed an arm around her shoulder, and Conny crawled closer, taking her frosting-free hand in his.

               “Sasha…  No one should be treated like that…” he whispered, sounding surprisingly genuine for the typical class clown. 

               “We should definitely talk to someone about your family,” Marco stated, walking over to the trio.

               “And maybe we can have Eren’s dad talk to them and set them straight.  Maybe they were just trying to do what they thought was best for you,” Reiner murmured. 

               “Yeah!  I’ll give them a piece of my mind for you!  And then I’ll make them watch you eat a piece of cake!” Eren yelled enthusiastically, grinning despite the odd looks everyone was giving him. 

               Eren somewhat understood the gravity of the situation.  No one deserved to live in a place where they were expected to be something they weren’t.  And no child ever deserved to be hungry.  However, Eren also thought that everyone could use a little cheering up right now too.  After a few moments of silence, he began to wonder if he’d made the wrong decision in trying to lighten the mood.

               “Could you…  Could you make them watch me… eat a _whole_ cake…?” Sasha questioned quietly, looking up at Eren with a smile, forcing her tears to cease.

               Eren’s grin doubled in size, knowing he’d succeeded.  He looked at his classmates and saw them giving him smiles that seemed to thank him for easing the tension.  Even Jean gave him a nod of approval, though he quickly turned away, hoping no one else had noticed.

               “You bet!” Eren answered. 

               He spun around and grabbed another piece of cake from the table and dashed over to Sasha, shoving it into her hands. 

               “Thanks, Eren,” Sasha said, smiling at him.  “Oh.   And thank you too, Conny.”

               Sasha leaned forward and kissed Conny on the cheek, leaving a smudge of frosting and cake bits when she pulled away.  Conny had flushed a bright red and excused himself to go wash his face off, though Eren was certain that he was just too embarrassed to stick around.

               After that, an investigation was done onto why Sasha’s parents had acted the way they did.  To most of the residents of Shiganshina, they’d just been the quiet owners of the town’s Poké Mart.  It was soon discovered, however, that Mr. Braus had been recruited by Team Rocket and had been working undercover to smuggle them Pokémon from Kanto.  This had been going on for years and years and just went to prove how much damage Team Rocket had done, even in the tiny outlier towns of the world.  Mrs. Braus knew a little about what was going on but kept her mouth shut out of fear.  She knew very well that Team Rocket wouldn’t hesitate to take away her little girl if she tried to do anything about the situation. 

               As for the strict diet and etiquette enforcement, Mrs. Braus explained to the investigation team, all of that stemmed from a covert meeting that had happened in their home when Sasha was three years old.  Several higher-ups in Team Rocket’s trade division were visiting them late one night when little Sasha decided to wake up and enter the living room.  Despite it being well past midnight, she was full of energy and ran to the closest Team Rocket member, hugging his leg and greeting him warmly.  He’d harshly kicked her away and commanded Mr. and Mrs. Braus to teach their daughter to respect the “New World Order” or else something terrible might just happen to their little girl.  Out of fear, Mrs. Braus decided to do whatever she could to make sure that Team Rocket would never have a reason to take Sasha away.  Or worse.

               After the investigation, Mr. Braus was taken to jail by one of the Officer Hannes brothers for assisting Team Rocket, though many doubted he’d stay there for long, considering Team Rocket basically was in charge of the jails, not the police.  Mrs. Braus got to keep custody of Sasha and was allowed to keep the Poké Mart, though she was still being watched carefully.

               Sasha, meanwhile, couldn’t be happier.  She missed her father, but she loved that her mother seemed less afraid now and much less controlling of her actions.  But what really mattered to her was that she could eat anything she wanted again.  Not only did her mother pack her goodies, but Sasha often traded the healthier portions of her meals with her classmates during lunchtime.  Mikasa was always willing to trade with her, and Conny always eagerly shared his cookies with her, but he had to be sure to eat his half before offering them up or else Sasha would gobble all of his cookies up.  While Sasha was still pretty polite, she was much more outgoing and much less concerned with following the rules so precisely now.  Her and Conny were always having little adventures and getting into trouble, but she didn’t act out so much as to cause a problem in school.  Well, most of the time.  There was that big Weedle incident a week ago during the math final.

               “Settle down.  Settle down.  Next up is Conny,” Professor Kirschtein stated, hoping to calm the still giggling crowd.

               Conny sauntered up to the table and inspected the two remaining Poké Balls.  After a few seconds, he selected the one on his right and returned to his place in line with a grin of satisfaction.

               “What could make a better first Pokémon than a Poké Ball with eyes?” Jean teased.

               “Sh—Shut up, Jean!” Conny stammered, looking down at his new Poké Ball.  “I like Electric types, and, uh—“

               “I think it’s a great choice,” Marco defended, resting a hand on Conny’s right shoulder, earning a thankful grin from him.

               “Conny has chosen Voltorb,” Professor Kirschtein announced to the crowd that had finally settled down. 

               Eren peered past a sullen-looking Jean, seemingly annoyed that Marco had once again gone against him, and an excited-looking Sasha to shoot Conny a grin. 

               Conny had always been the self-appointed comic relief amongst the kids, but he was so much more than a clown.  Eren and Conny had been best friends since they could crawl.  They would spend their summers exploring the area around Shiganshina, always pushing the boundaries of how far their parents allowed them to go.  This fact was one reason that Eren was so stunned that he’d never been up to that cliff overlooking the ocean that he’d seen in his dream the night before.  As they explored, they shared their dreams of roaming the world’s vast landscape, catching every species of Pokémon ever seen.  They discussed type match-ups and their perfect future teams.  They discussed how they would take on the region’s Gym Leaders someday.  They tried to guess what their first Pokémon would be, could be if they had a choice.  Together, they dreamed of adventure and, ultimately, putting an end to Team Rocket’s stranglehold on the rest of the world. 

               One day during school two years ago, Conny proved his courage to the rest of his classmates.  It was one of those “Career Fair” days where everyone’s parents show up to discuss what they do for a living.  Eren’s father discussed his work as a doctor for both humans and Pokémon.  Jean’s father told the children about his work with Pokémon rehabilitation and research.  Sasha’s mother chatted about trade practices in the region.  Annie’s father discussed his time in the military and the martial arts training he offered now.  Bertholdt's mother spoke about her work in the Pokémon Center a few towns over.  Marco’s father talked about his work alongside Professor Kirschtein and his side fishing business.  Reiner’s mother discussed her work making specialty Poké Balls in a small shop in the closest city.  Conny’s father discussed the small bicycle shop that his family had owned for generations.  Many children travelling through the area still purchased their first bikes from the Springer Cycle Shop, and all the kids in Shiganshina were saving up to do the same, though they often got to rent bicycles for free from him for the day as long as they promised not to be reckless. 

               After all the parents had presented their occupations and waved goodbye to their kids, the children were invited to the front of the classroom one at a time to talk about what they were interested in doing when they grew up.  When it was Conny’s turn, he made his way to the front, looking excited to share his dreams with the class like he had with Eren so many times before.  Just as he had taken his place in front of the chalkboard, bouncing on his heels in anticipation, a small bell dinged, signaling that someone had opened the door to the small classroom.  Silence took hold of the room when the children saw that the guest was a member of Team Rocket.  Eren gave Conny a worried look because he was so close to the door and the intruder.

               “I think you’re in the wrong place, Ma’am…,” their teacher murmured, standing from her desk to approach Conny and the woman from Team Rocket.  “There are just children here…”

               It was obvious to Eren that his teacher, Miss Nifa, was absolutely terrified.  She was shaking, but it was clear that she wanted to get Conny away from this potentially dangerous woman.  However, she stopped where she was when the woman grabbed a Poké Ball from her hip and held it out towards the class.

               “Oh.  Please continue,” she cooed, her curly, light brown hair bouncing as she walked closer to Conny.  “I heard you were having a Career Day today, and I figured you could use a representative from the world’s number one employer.”

               She was just about to pat Conny’s shaved head when he turned to look her directly in the eyes.  She stopped, her hand still hovering above his head, and looked at him curiously.  It was clear that she hadn’t expected a young kid to be so bold.

               “And who’s that?” Conny spat, eyes narrowed dangerously at the woman.  “Team Rocket?”

               “Uh…  Yeah…  That’s why I’m here, kid.  You all should join up while you still have a choice.  It’ll look better on your records if you join early and—“

               “The number one employer, huh?  Just because you’re the only group that forces people to join up out of fear, huh?  Yeah.  That’s a great way to raise your employment numbers,” Conny growled, his gaze not wavering away from the shocked woman’s for a second.

               “You better watch yourself, boy.  You don’t want to cause an accident here today,” she threatened, activating her Poké Ball, causing it to grow to its full size in her tight grip.

               Conny glanced to the side, and Eren met his gaze.  They both knew this was their perfect chance to prove that they weren’t afraid of Team Rocket.

               “Do you really think that killing a bunch of innocent kids is the way to prove that Team Rocket is the ultimate power?  The supreme leaders of this world?  I’m not afraid of you,” Conny challenged, taking a step closer to the woman.

               “ _We_ aren’t afraid of you,” Eren added, standing from his desk, eager to back up his friend and take on Team Rocket in the only way he could for now.

               “Same here,” Jean stated with a grin, refusing to be out-done by Eren.

               A moment later, the rest of Eren’s small class were on their feet, stating their agreement.  Following Eren’s lead, they all walked around their desks and joined Conny at the front of the classroom, despite the silent protests they were getting from Miss Nifa.

               Eren could tell that the Team Rocket grunt couldn’t believe what was happening around her.  She could have thrown the Poké Ball at any moment, but something held her back.  Once the kids were surrounding Conny and glaring back at her, she finally lowered her Poké Ball and admitted defeat, silently turning away and leaving the room with another ding of the bell.

               Eren remembered releasing the breath he didn’t know he had been holding when that bell sounded.  Once the door had closed behind the woman, he flung his arms around Conny and pulled him into a tight hug.  They were soon joined by the rest of the class, everyone talking all at once about how brave Conny had been.  After a few minutes of recap and celebration, Miss Nifa made her way through the huddle of kids to kneel in front of Conny and give him a warm hug.

               “Please don’t ever do that again,” she breathed.  Leaning back so she could look him in the eye, she added with a smile, “That being said, I am very proud of you.  Thank you, Conny.  You’re very, very brave.”

               Eren watched with a grin as Conny told the class of his dreams to explore the world someday, beaming with pride and determination the entire time.  From that day forward, no one questioned Conny’s resolve when it came to his future.

               Eren and Conny shared a cheesy grin, realizing the first step in their shared dream was coming true.  Meanwhile, Marco stepped forward to claim the last Poké Ball.  He smiled at the other kids in line when he returned with his new companion.

               “Lastly, Marco will be taking the Bulbasaur,” Professor Kirschtein stated.

               Eren watched as Marco held the Poké Ball carefully in front of him, inspecting it with curiosity and excitement in his eyes.  It wasn’t often that Marco let his emotions show this much, though it definitely wasn’t the first time Eren had seen his eyes light up this way, though he wasn’t a fan of thinking of the other times.

               One of the most recent times Eren had seen Marco’s eyes glisten the way they were now was several months before, on Valentine’s Day.  As always, Marco had followed Jean into the small classroom, carrying both of their backpacks and lunchboxes, even on a day like that.  Jean couldn’t be bothered with such trivial things as carrying his own school supplies or food around, it seemed, and besides, that was technically Marco’s job, as weird as it appeared at times.  Looking from the outside in, Jean and Marco sometimes seemed to be really close friends, but more often than not, their relationship seemed far from even.  Typically, Marco was nothing more than a doormat for Jean, though neither of them seemed to mind this arrangement, even when asked about it directly.  They both found it perfectly acceptable and welcomed.

               That day, at least Jean seemed to have a small reason to have Marco carry his things, though Eren still didn’t think it was a good excuse.  That morning, Jean had burst through the door with the biggest stuffed Luvdisc that Eren had ever seen.  It was taller than Jean, and Eren wondered how he’d even managed to carry it all the way to school.  Everyone watched him carefully, especially the only girls in the class:  Annie, Sasha, and Mikasa.  However, everyone knew they’d have to wait to find out who it was for when Jean took the Luvdisc to the back of the classroom and set it down for later.  Normally, Eren couldn’t be bothered to associate with Jean, but he was desperate to find out who it was to be gifted to.

               As soon as Marco had left the room to prepare some tea for Jean like he did every morning, Eren approached, trying to look casual and disinterested, though the look Jean gave him seemed to prove that he wasn’t buying the act.  There wasn’t a ton of time left before class started, so Eren gave up his cool act and sat down next to Jean, in Marco’s typical seat.

               “Okay.  Spill,” Eren stated as flatly as possible, desperately trying to hide the curiosity in his voice.

               “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Jaeger,” Jean replied with a grin.

               “Fine.  Here’s some candy,” Eren bargained, urgently pulling out a couple pieces and slapping them in front of Jean.  “I gotta know, man.”

               Taking the candy and beginning to unwrap one, Jean merely replied, “Know what, _man_?”

               “Ugh!  Come on!” Eren groaned, throwing another handful of candy at Jean’s smug, horse-like face.  If he kept this up, he wouldn’t have any candy left to give to the rest of the class.  “Who’s the Luvdisc for?”

               Popping a piece of chocolate into his mouth, Jean asked, “Why in the universe would I tell you of all people, Jaeger?” 

               Eren studied Jean for a moment.  All the smugness that had been laced into his features previously had melted away.  Eren hoped it was because of the chocolate, especially if he wanted an answer.

               “Because I’m dying to know,” Eren whined.  “I’d tell you.  Come on.  There are only, like, three choices.  Is it Mikasa?  I know we haven’t known her for long, but she’s pretty.  But if she doesn’t like you, she’ll probably break your leg if you try something.  Umm…  Sasha?  She’s nice too, but I hardly hear a peep out of her.  Ooh.  I bet it’s Annie!  It’s Annie, isn’t it?  Do you have a thing for blondes, Jean?”

               At that, Jean’s whole face turned bright red, and Eren was sure he was right until Jean gave him a look that seemed to confirm the exact opposite.  Marco had just returned to see Jean blushing and Eren, uncharacteristically, engaging him in conversation.  It didn’t take much thinking to figure out what they were discussing.  As Marco set the tea down and gave Eren a soft look that seemed to warn him to be careful, Jean muttered something so quietly that both of them almost missed it.

               “There are more than three options, you know, Eren…”

               Eren was completely confused by his cryptic words, and he glanced to Marco to see if he had a clue as to what Jean meant.  Eren will never forget the look that Marco was giving Jean, the look that Jean still had yet to see due to the fact that he refused to look up at either of them.  Marco’s eyes were shining, and his cheeks were turning pink.  Eren glanced back to where the boy was looking and desperately hoped to see someone, anyone, standing behind Jean, but alas, no one was there.  Marco’s loving gaze was directed at none other than Horse-Face Kirschtein. 

               Though it disgusted Eren that anyone, especially sweet Marco, could actually have a crush on someone like Jean, Eren could also tell that Jean wouldn’t be able to figure it out or admit to it himself without some help.  Eren decided it was time to play matchmaker.  Besides, it was Valentine’s Day after all.

               “Fine.  You don’t have to tell me who it is exactly, but will you answer one question truthfully if I promise to leave you alone about it?” Eren asked evenly, glancing up at Marco and giving him a knowing smile, causing him to blush even brighter.

               Jean nodded, and Eren grinned, sure that he’d caught the boy, though he wouldn’t ask anything too condemning.

               “Okay,” Eren began, taking a deep breath.  “Is the person you like in this classroom right now?”

               Jean didn’t hesitate to deliver his answer.  He raised his head from its place on his desk and looked from a grinning Eren to a blushing Marco and back to the grinning Eren.

               “No.”

               Both Eren and Marco frowned, utterly confused.

               “But everyone’s here!  Why would you bring that thing here if the person you like isn’t in our class?” Eren demanded, noticing Marco drop his head next to him.

               “You said one question, Eren,” Jean answered coldly.

               “But that makes no sense!” Eren shouted, rising to his feet.

               “It doesn’t have to make sense to you, Jaeger!  It doesn’t concern you!” Jean yelled back, standing up to match Eren’s stance.

               “It’s my concern if I’m going to school with a crazy person!  And your thought process is pretty messed up!  You just trying to rub in the fact that you can afford shit like that, Jean?!?”

               “No!  I was—“

               “Was what?!?  Trying to get someone’s hopes up?!?”

               “What are you talking—?”

               “Think about people’s feelings, Jean!  Stop thinking of just yourself!!!”

               “I wasn’t even—”

               “You’re right!  You weren’t thinking!  You don’t deserve for anyone to like you!  The only person who could ever love you is _you_!!!”

               “That’s not tr—”

               “And worse!  The only person _you_ could ever love,” Eren screamed, not caring that the entire class was watching their argument in sheer horror, “is YOURSELF!!!”

               Jean punched Eren square in the jaw, and it was hard enough to send him crashing to the floor.  Marco, who had been backing away silently throughout the entire exchange, ran back to Eren’s side and helped him sit up.  Jean towered above them both, seething with rage that he had been trying to hold back despite Eren’s onslaught.  The fists at his sides were turning white from being clenched too tightly for too long, and Eren knew he was lucky that he hadn’t received more of a beating from all he’d just thrown at the other boy.

               “You’re wrong, Eren…  I care about someone else, and I was feeling hopeful that today would be the day… that… we finally…,” Jean’s voice trailed off, his eyes piercing through Eren like the claws of a Kabutops. 

               Jean walked to the back of the room and collected the Luvdisc before heading towards the exit.  Just then, Miss Nifa entered the room to see Eren and Marco sitting on the floor and the rest of the students staring at them or Jean in shock.  Jean muttered an apology before brushing past her with his giant gift and leaving the room.  He didn’t return that day. 

               Eren looked at Marco by his side.  He seemed conflicted about whether or not to follow Jean, but he seemed to decide that the other boy could use some time alone.  Besides, Marco seemed a little shaken himself.  Eren could tell he was disappointed, and though he figured he would never understand the reasoning behind falling for someone like Jean, he figured he could try to be supportive.  Besides, maybe in a strange way he could relate…

               “I’m sorry,” Eren offered quietly, careful to make sure that only Marco could hear. 

               “It’s okay,” Marco replied with a smile that looked a little too forced.  “It was a long-shot anyways.”

               “Well, Jean’s still just a dumb kid.  We all are really.  I mean, look at you!  You fell for the guy,” Eren replied with a grin, nudging Marco.

               He was relieved to see Marco smile back genuinely.  They both stood up from the floor and took their seats.

               “Hey, Marco!  Catch!” Eren called from his seat, tossing him a caramel candy bar that he’d fished out of his bag.  Eren knew it was Marco’s favorite flavor, and a part of him wanted to laugh when he thought that Jean probably didn’t know that fact.  “Happy Valentine’s Day!”

               Marco caught the treat with a thankful grin and placed it in his bag for lunch time.  Eren turned back to the front of the classroom where Miss Nifa was eager to start the day’s geography lesson, but she was quickly derailed when Reiner offered his insight on the situation.

               “Guess this is what happens when there are too many Nidokings and not enough Nidoqueens, huh?”  He paused for a moment.  “Should we give it a try, Bert?”

               “What?!?” Bertholdt had squeaked in response, breaking into a harsh sweating and stammering fit.

               “Just kidding, buddy.  I know you’ve got a thing for Annie,” Reiner stated with an obnoxiously large grin.

               “WHAT?!?” Bertholdt yelled, his condition only worsening when Annie turned around to shoot metaphorical laser beams through the two boys. 

               Eren could have sworn that he saw real lasers shooting from her furious eyes, especially when Bertholdt’s head thumped onto his desk and stayed there.

               “Oops.  Guess it was too much for the poor guy to take, thinking about getting with either of us sexy blondes, huh, Annie?  Guess we’re stuck with each other today,” he declared, still grinning despite his best friend lying unconscious next to him.

               Annie huffed in response, whipping back around in her chair to study the map on the board at the front of the room.  Miss Nifa looked confused, horrified, and worried all at the same time as she rushed to Bertholdt.  After determining that he would be fine, she dismissed the rest of the class to have a short recess and exchange candy now instead of during lunch while she collected herself.  She’d soon find out that letting the children have candy now instead of later was a terrible idea, but the school day was already ruined day.  It was definitely memorable for all the wrong, non-learning-related reasons.

               Eren was glad that Marco’s loving gaze was directed at his new Poké Ball and not Jean, but the look definitely brought up memories of that day.  But Eren didn’t linger on the awkwardness that surrounded Marco.  Instead, he pondered Jean’s words about his crush.  Before he could think too hard about it, like he had so many times in the past few months, Professor Kirschtein spoke up.

               “And this concludes the 104th annual Shiganshina Pokémon selection ceremony.  Thank you all for being part of this momentous occasion,” he announced.  “Please travel home safely.”

               Eren watched as most of the guests started to shuffle out of the laboratory.  As he glanced back to his father chatting away with Professor Kirschtein and the blonde man he’d arrived with, Eren became sure that he wanted to be among those leaving.

               As Eren squeezed out with the rest of the guests, he heard Jean calling his name, but he didn’t stop moving away from the lab once he was outside.

               “Eren!  Hey, Eren!  Wait up!” Jean called, and Eren could hear him running after him.

               “No, Jean, I don’t want to battle you.  You’ll win right now on type match-up alone,” Eren growled, still not stopping or looking back at his pursuer.

               “Will you slow down?  Eren!  I wanna talk to you about something,” Jean called, still trailing after him.

               “I’m not really in the mood for talking, Jean,” Eren mumbled, though he couldn’t completely pinpoint why he was getting so upset.  He didn’t even notice that Jean wasn’t calling after him by spitting out his last name like it was a rotting, stinking Trubbish.  Seriously.  Who else could make such a cool surname sound so contemptible? 

               “Listen, Eren,” Jean continued, for once not willing to give up but also not losing his cool.  “Are you sure you didn’t recognize that blonde guy that showed up with your dad?  I mean—”

               For some reason, that seemed to snap something in Eren.  He whipped around to stare at a wide-eyed Jean.

               “No.  I don’t know him,” Eren snarled.

               “Oh.  Sorry.  You just seemed… to know him… or something,” Jean muttered, looking at his feet.  “You sure you haven’t seen him around your dad’s lab or anything?”

               “No.  I haven’t.  I never go to my dad’s lab.  He never invites me,” Eren snapped, still unsure why he was so frustrated and, worse, why he felt so determined to direct it all at Jean. 

               “Oh.  Well, I didn’t mean to—“

               “Of course you didn’t.  Nothing is ever your fault, right?  It’s always someone else’s,” Eren replied.  Sarcastically, he added, “You sure that _you_ haven’t seen him around _your_ dad’s lab?”

               “I haven’t seen him before.  Ever,” Jean answered, finally looking up to meet Eren’s harsh gaze.  “But I swear he looked familiar.  Kinda.  And I thought you noticed too…”

               Eren turned, stomping off towards his house.

               “I’m done with this pointless conversation, Jean.  I don’t know the guy,” Eren called back over his shoulder, not really caring if Jean heard or not.

               “Okay, Eren.  I just thought that maybe… maybe you’d seen… _him…_ too…” Jean murmured as he turned to head back to the lab.

               Eren stopped dead in his tracks.  _Him._   Jean wasn’t talking about the blonde man anymore.  He was talking about someone else entirely.  Could he really be referring to the same boy that Eren had been dreaming about since he had the ability to dream?  Eren whipped around again, but it was too late.  He watched Jean walking back towards the lab with Marco now at his side. 

               “No, I don’t wanna battle.  You’ll kill us,” Eren heard Jean say to Marco, giving him a playful shove.

               “Hey.  It’s not my fault that I got a Pokémon that’s effective against yours.  I just got what was left,” Marco replied with a grin.

               Eren watched them go until he couldn’t hear them anymore.  He turned around, heading once more in the direction of his home.

               “Eren!”

               A steady hand clamped down on his shoulder, one he couldn’t escape, and Eren was forced to turn around once more and stare at Reiner.  Annie and Bertholdt were with him, as always.

               “Great ceremony today.  I think you got an awesome Pokémon,” Reiner offered with his typical wide grin.

               “You might have trouble beating Jean though, especially at first…,” Bertholdt stated sheepishly.

               “Not to worry, Bert.  His Charmander can learn Solar Beam and take Jean’s Squirtle down without breaking a sweat.  We’ll even let you practice on Colossus,” Reiner replied with a laugh.

               “Umm, Reiner…  I don’t think that’s such a good idea…  Besides, I don’t think Charmander can just learn Solar Beam that easily.  I think he’ll have to—“ Bertholdt tried to correct.

               “Nonsense.  With determination, a Pokémon can learn _any_   move,” Reiner boomed.

               “I don’t think that’s true…” Bertholdt retorted nervously.

               “Ignore those two goons.  You should teach it some solid physical attacks that way you won’t have to rely so heavily on type match-ups to win,” Annie mentioned as Reiner continued to try to convince Bertholdt he was right.

               “Uh, thanks, guys.  Really,” Eren muttered, “But I have to get home.  I have to help Mom with dinner, and I think Dad wanted to tell me something.”

               “Okay.  Okay,” Reiner said with a wave, “But you better show up tomorrow at noon by the beach for some training and practice, okay?  Oh!  And that’s also where you get to pick out a name for Charmander.  It’s tradition!”

               “Fine.  I’ll be there,” Eren said, starting to continue towards his house.  He really just wanted to get home at this point.

               “Oh!  One more thing before you go, Eren!” Reiner called, forcing Eren to turn his attention one last time away from his house.  “Did you know that blonde dude who came to the lab with your dad?  You and Jean both seemed pretty spooked when you saw him.  It kinda freaked me out.  Everything okay?”

               Had he and Jean really reacted in a visibly strange manner towards this same man?  Eren wasn’t sure what more he could say on the matter, especially since he truly had no idea who he was and, worse, he had no idea why he affected both him and Jean so severely.  So he offered up the best answer he could.

               “It’s no big deal.  He just looked vaguely familiar.  I think I was mistaken though,” Eren replied, faking a smile as best he could.

               “Ah.  Well, if you’re sure—”

               “Yep.  Everything’s great.  Thanks for coming,” Eren called over his shoulder, already running towards his home, determined not to be stopped this time.  “See you tomorrow!”

               Eren was more determined than ever to get to the bottom of this situation, but he knew he’d have to get through an extremely awkward dinner before he’d have a chance to demand answers from his hermit-like father.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Arguments between Eren and Jean are fun. =P  
> Also, no one can tell me that Electrode doesn't look EXACTLY like Conny.... =)


	5. Crystals and Shots

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren begs for answers and winds up with more questions. He also discovers that his future may be tied a bit too much with Jean's. =)

               Eren took a deep breath before quietly opening the door and sliding into his home.  It was obvious that his mother had already started dinner, judging from the amazing aroma filling the entryway.  It was also obvious that his father had beaten him home due to the fact that his mother was questioning someone about how the ceremony had gone.  Eren decided there was no use in hiding from his father this evening, especially if he hoped to get any answers.

               “I’m home,” Eren announced, walking into the kitchen and joining his father at the table near where his mother was preparing dinner.  Eren glanced to his left and saw his father reading the paper at the head of the table.  Despite himself, Eren found himself thinking that his father had no right to be sitting there.  How can someone own a home they never live in?

               “Welcome home, Sweetheart,” his mother replied, flicking off the gas stove.  “Your father says the ceremony went well?”

               Eren noticed how she said it like a question, like she was trying to encourage input from her husband and son.  It was no secret that Eren had slight “daddy issues” due to the fact that he was at his lab a good majority of the time.  In fact, Eren hadn’t seen him for a few months now, and he couldn’t figure out why this fact didn’t seem to bother his mother at all. 

               “Umm…  Yeah…  I chose the fire-type, like you,” Eren answered meekly, now aware of how embarrassing it was to want to follow in his mother’s footsteps.

               “Is that so?  I feel honored, Pumpkin,” she replied as she set the table with spaghetti, Eren’s favorite dish of all time.  “What Pokémon is it?”

               “Charmander,” Eren’s father supplied, as dead-pan as ever.  It seemed like he wanted the conversation to end so he could focus on the paper obscuring his face from his family.

               Eren noticed his mother’s smile turn into a frown as she turned back to the stove to gather the rest of the food she’d prepared, and he wasn’t going to let his father get away with the same game he always seemed to play with his family.

               “Dad,” Eren called harshly, causing his father to lower his paper and his mother to glance over her shoulder, looking worried, “who was that guy that you brought to the ceremony.  He was giving off sketchy vibes.”

               Eren decided not to mention the fact that he was dying to know because he looked so painfully familiar to the boy from his dreams.

               “Eren!  That’s not very nice,” his mother retorted before her husband had a chance to respond, if he was even going to.  “You shouldn’t say such things about someone who came to support you on your big day.”

               “I don’t think he was there to support me, Mom.  He kept giving me weird looks!” Eren countered.  “Jean noticed he was weird too!”

               “Did he?” Dr. Jaeger finally spoke up. 

               Eren looked towards his father and was a bit frightened to see the intensity that he was studying him with.  What had he said to set his father off?

               “Uh…  Yeah.  Jean said he looked familiar.  I… kinda agree,” Eren admitted a bit reluctantly.  Maybe he’d get answers faster if he was just honest.

               “I highly doubt you’ve seen him in person before,” his father commented, folding his paper and setting it to the side.  “Are you certain he was familiar?”

               Eren was still trying to figure out why this had gained his father’s attention so easily.  It was very rare that he could grab his father’s attention.

               “Well, not exactly…  He reminded me of the boy—” Eren started, still a little caught in his ponderings of why his father cared so much to remember that he should probably censor himself. 

               “A classmate of yours?” Eren’s mother asked after a few awkward moments of her husband and son staring at each other in silence. 

               “Umm…  No…  Not exactly,” Eren mumbled, hoping that he could still find a way to hide his embarrassment.  He could feel his cheeks heating up. 

               “What did this boy look like, Eren?” his father questioned, very calmly and a bit slowly as he observed him with too much interest for Eren’s liking.

               “It’s not important…  You’re supposed to be telling me about that guy from—”

               “What did he look like, Eren?” his father asked again, raising his voice and leaning forward.

               “Now, Dear, calm down.  Let’s just eat.  It’s so good to have you—” Eren’s mother tried to interject.

               “Answer me, Eren.”

               There was silence for a few moments, and Eren decided it was time to come clean about his dreams.  Maybe this would get his father to start noticing him, something Eren longed for but would never admit out loud.  It seemed to be working now, even though he had no idea why.  Maybe his father would take him in for psychological analysis or something.

               “Well, he…,” Eren started but had to take a deep breath and look down before he could continue.  “He has kinda long, blonde hair.  And, uh, big blue eyes.  And he always wears the same blue jacket.  And he’s around my age.  Well, I mean, he always has been…  We’ve been growing up together.  I mean I don’t know much about him, not even his name.  I’ve just been chasing him for years, my whole life really, in my dreams, and—”

               Eren stopped his explanation when he heard his mother start coughing, choking on the water she’d been drinking at the time.  He looked up at her and then his father.  He felt his blood run cold when he saw his father’s mouth slightly agape, obviously shocked about something he had said.  Eren wondered if his dreams were really so unusual.

               “What’s wrong?” he asked weakly after neither of them offered an explanation.

               What Eren didn’t expect was to get two very different, somewhat concerning answers at once.

               “I didn’t know you were, erm, gay, Dear,” his mother offered as his father was saying, “I didn’t know you were already connected to him.”

               All three of them sat in silence for a good minute after that, glancing at each other.  Eren wasn’t sure whether to shrink away and die at that moment or jump onto the table and demand a better explanation.  Eren wasn’t one for shying away from anything, so he went for a toned-down version of his second option.

               “First off, I’m not in love with him.  Wouldn’t you want to know the name of the guy you’ve been dreaming of since you were two?  And why—”

               “Yes, but, Eren, none of this sounds normal,” his mother commented quietly before shifting her gaze to her husband.  “And you.  You seem to have known about this?”

               “Eren, how long have you been dreaming of him?” his father questioned, completely ignoring his wife.

               “Since I can remember.  Maybe since I was born, though I don’t remember that far back, obviously…” Eren murmured, starting to fear that intrigue in his father’s eyes.

               “How often?”

               “Every single night…”

               “What are the dreams like?”

               “I…  Well,” Eren started, dropping his head again, wondering if he should really be ashamed for all of this.  “I’m always chasing him somehow, trying to discover who he is.  I’ve never heard him say anything.  And I’d never really gotten a good look at his face, until…”

               “Until?” his father questioned, ignoring the wary looks from his wife.

               “Last night…,” Eren finally managed to answer.

               “What happened in your dream last night?”

               “I…  I don’t really… wanna think about it…,” Eren answered, glancing up at his unusually talkative father.

               Instantly, his father was on his feet, sliding his chair away from the table with so much force that it fell over backwards.  His mother had no idea what to do, so she just sat there in silence, watching her husband storm over to her son and grab onto his arm, forcing the boy to look up.

               “Tell me what you saw, Eren,” he demanded, giving Eren a little shake as he spoke.

               Eren had never seen his father act this way before.  He hardly saw the man, and when he did, he was very quiet and kept to himself.  Why was all of this so important to him?  Eren decided there was no use putting it off.  He started to think back to his dream from the night before, wishing he had been able to forget it like most people forget their dreams.

               “I…  I cornered him on a tall cliff over the ocean…  I thought it would be my chance… to find out who he was…  But when I got too close…,” Eren stopped, recalling that before he witnessed the horror of the boy’s death, he’d been absolutely captivated by him.  Maybe his mother was right.  Maybe he was in love.  “He started to dance…  And I couldn’t look away…  But…  Before I could understand what was happening… he…”

               There was silence again.  Eren didn’t think he could say it.  Saying it out loud made it seem even more real, more horrifying, but his father wasn’t going to let him get off so easily.

               “He did what, Eren?  Tell me.”

               “I…  I can’t…”

               “Eren!  Answer me!”

               “Please…  No…”

               “Eren!” his father demanded, shaking him a little violently now.

               “He killed himself!” Eren shouted, pausing a moment when he became aware that his face was stained with tears.  “No…  I killed him…  I cornered him.  I scared him into thinking he only had one option, one way out…  And he took it…  He jumped… because of me…”

               As his father released his arm and returned to his spot at the head of the table, Eren began to cry harder.  He should have never asked about that blonde man.  He should have never let Jean get him so worked up.  He should have tried to get rid of these dreams long ago.  Why was this affecting him so much?  This kid wasn’t even real.  He was just a figment of Eren’s imagination.  Then again, why would his father care so much if that fact was true.  Maybe the idea that his son was gay or something was just too much to deal with.  After a few minutes filled with nothing but his own sniffles, Eren couldn’t take the silence anymore.

               “What is this about?  The fact that I’m dreaming about a boy?  I’m just a kid.  Heh.  You’re a doctor.  You know it’s not like _that_ ,” Eren protested, glancing from his silent mother to his contemplating father. 

               He waited for someone to answer him, scold him, yell at him, anything, but nothing came.  So he continued.

               “Besides, what’s wrong with being gay?  No one cares these—”

               “Don’t say that!” his mother screeched.  “It goes against the laws of nature.  It’s not okay, Eren.  Get that in your head now.  It’ll be easier that way…  Besides, it’s illegal…”

               “According to who?” Eren demanded, getting worked up again though he wasn’t sure why.

               “Team Rocket has been known to execute—”

               “That’s enough, Carla,” Dr. Jaeger finally interjected.  “That law is outdated, especially considering who runs Team Rocket now.  And no, that isn’t what this is about.  It’s much bigger than you think, Eren, but I can’t explain right now.”

               “Then when can you explain, huh?!?  You’re never around!  Why not now?  Let’s just—”

               “I’d like you to come to my lab after dinner tonight.  I want to show you what I’ve been working on,” Eren’s father replied calmly, as if nothing strange had just happened in the previous few minutes. 

               Eren was stunned.  His father had never invited him to his lab.  In fact, Eren had shown up a few times, trying to sneak a peek, but his father had always turned him away at the door.  This was his chance, no matter how strange the route to get there was.

               “You-You mean it?” Eren asked, perhaps sounding a bit too eager.

               He noticed his mother visibly calm down and smile slightly across the table.

               “Of course.  I think you’re ready,” his father replied.

               With that, they all returned to eating in silence.  Eren could have reminded his father that he had never explained that man who attended the selection ceremony, but he’d take what he could get for now.  Maybe this was his chance to get closer to his father, and then, maybe he could get even more answers out of him.

               After the Jaeger family finished dinner, Eren’s father announced that he had to make a few quick calls before they could head to the lab.  For once, Eren decided it might be a good idea to be patient, or he might ruin his chance to get some mysteries solved.  He also decided that now wouldn’t be a good time to try eavesdropping on his father’s conversations like he had a habit of doing.  Normally though, he didn’t understand what they were talking about, and he often wondered if his father was just using high-tech science lingo or if he was speaking German.  Eren found himself thinking that maybe he should learn German from his father.

               As Eren sat in his room, his mind wandered back to the dinner conversation.  His father, a man notorious for keeping his feelings concealed, had looked visibly distressed when Eren finished the story about his most recent dream.  Could these dreams have some meaning?

               It was about half an hour before Eren heard a knock on his bedroom door.  He’d almost dozed off on his bed, wondering what he might see at the lab.  For a moment, he even wondered if that boy would be there, in a tank filled with water or something, but he knew it was highly unlikely.

               Eren and his father walked in silence towards his lab in town.  One reason Eren was so upset that he’d never been to his father’s lab was because it was so close to his home.  It always made him question what his dad did, what he was hiding there.  Maybe it was nothing, or maybe it was just something he didn’t think a young boy would be able to understand easily.

               After looking around for a few moments, Dr. Jaeger reached for a string under the collar of his shirt and revealed that the key to his lab had been resting safely around his neck.  Eren watched as he quickly pulled it over his head and unlocked the door to the building.  His father ushered him inside before peeking his head outside once more and securing the door, double-checking the lock.

               “Were you… seeing if we were followed?” Eren asked hesitantly. 

               His father’s expression was as calm as ever, but the actions he had just performed were far from it.  However, Eren did not receive an answer. His father began climbing the nearby staircase up to the second floor of the building.  Eren just decided to follow him and ask questions later.

               “Good evening,” Eren heard his father say to someone upstairs, and Eren desperately wanted to know who it was.  Maybe it was the man from earlier.  Or the boy!  However, Eren was filled with nothing but annoyance and disappointment when he heard his nemesis return the warm greeting.

               “What in the name of Arceus are you doing here, Jean?” Eren growled as he turned the corner at the top of the stairs.

               Jean was curled up on a long bench on the opposite wall, sitting sideways and using his knees like an easel.  He was doing his favorite thing in the world, well, second behind antagonizing Eren:  sketching.

               “I could ask the same of you, Jaeger,” Jean retorted, not even bothering to look away from the picture he was working on. 

               Despite not seeing his face directly, Eren could tell by his voice that Jean was smirking, probably feeling pretty smug at intruding on Eren’s big moment with his father.  Really, though, why was he here?  Had his own father brought him?

               “Is your dad here too?  He seemed pretty sick of you earlier today.  Are you gonna be punished and turned into a Mr. Mime or something?  That’d be great.  Then I’d never have to listen—”

               “Shut up, Eren.  I’m on the same Lapras as you.  I don’t know why I’m here,” Jean interrupted, setting aside his favorite sketching pencil and actually looking towards Eren for a brief moment, a strange mix of annoyance and pain lingering in his eyes.

               Falling silent, Eren watched as Jean picked up his blue colored pencil and went back to work.  He wondered how Jean knew that he had no idea what was going on, and for a moment, Eren considered denying it, playing it cool and acting like he was in the loop.  However, he was too distracted by his next observation to argue or lie with the boy in front of him.

               It was a well-known fact that Jean loved to draw, and it was also a well-known fact that he didn’t go anywhere without the sketchbook that he was currently drawing in.  Another well-known fact was that no one knew what Jean drew in that particular book.  He’d share other drawings, of people, landscapes, Pokémon, but anything in that book was off-limits.  Eren, along with many other kids, had tried sneaking peeks of that book, but they’d all ended up with bloody noses and black eyes.  After a few disastrous attempts, Eren decided to leave it alone.  This was _Jean’s_ notebook, after all.  Why should he care about anything belonging to his rival unless it would give him a strategic advantage in battle?  Surely the contents of this sketchbook wouldn’t. 

               Well, that’s what Eren had thought, until just now. 

               Another given about Jean and his drawing habits was that he always had exactly three pencils with him:  a typical gray one that he presumably used to sketch the entirety of the picture, along with two colored ones that he used to add a little hue to his sketches.  They were always the same two colors:  a golden yellow and a vivid sky blue.  This discovery hit Eren like a raging Tauros, and he frantically began to question how he’d never truly noticed or made the connection before.  Maybe it was all just a coincidence.  Even earlier, when Jean had implied that he’d seen _him._   Why was this all surfacing now?

               Eren took a step forward, studying Jean’s face as he continued to work.  Normally, he’d have a small smile plastered on his normally smug face as he drew, but Eren had always assumed it was just because he enjoyed what he was doing.  Now he wasn’t so sure.  However, as Jean added more blue details, Eren noticed that his expression was different this time.  He seemed much more solemn.

               Jean didn’t seem to notice Eren approaching as he set down the blue pencil.  Eren waited for him to pick up the golden pencil, as he always did, but he was shocked to see that Jean had brought one additional color with him today.  He began adding details with a fiery, red pencil.  No.  It wasn’t the color of fire.  It was the color of blood.

               Eren wanted to scream, to dash over and see what Jean was drawing, to tear it to pieces if it was really a manifestation of his dream of the boy’s death from the night before, but he couldn’t.  Upon seeing that red colored pencil, Eren’s body completely froze up.  The only thing that kept working was his brain, which was racing faster than Eren could possibly hope to comprehend.  He swallowed hard, trying to reel his thoughts back in.  This was his chance to get at least _one_ answer.

               “Jean…  Is-Is that—”

               “Jean!  You can come in now!” Professor Kirschtein announced from a nearby doorway.

               Jean glanced up from his sketch, to his father, then to a dumbstruck Eren, and back to his drawing.  Eren watched him smile in a very sad way as he closed the book and set it aside.  He got up and began walking towards his father but stopped and reconsidered when he saw Eren staring at his closed sketchpad.  Without a word, Jean turned around and collected the book and his pencils from the bench before disappearing though the door that his father had just yelled from.

               Eren decided to set aside his recent discovery for now.  Perhaps he was overthinking things.  Yellow, blue, and red were primary colors, after all, thus making them perfect choices for an artist who didn’t want to carry much with him.  In an attempt to distract himself, Eren looked around for his father and realized that he must be in the room with Jean and Professor Kirschtein.  So this really wasn’t a special outing with his dad.  Jean was here too, and that probably meant that this was just something all of the kids who’d just received new Pokémon would go through. 

               Now severely disappointed, Eren took a seat on the bench Jean had been drawing on a minute ago.  He was no longer excited to see his father’s projects.  He was no longer hopeful for answers.  All he wanted to do was sleep.  However, before he could even fully lie down on the bench, Eren was startled by his father calling him into the room. 

               “Quickly, Eren,” his father called, sounding impatient.

               Eren stood and walked through the door just as Jean was about to leave the room.  Eren had to stand out of his way because Jean wasn’t paying attention at all.

               “Hey!  Watch where you’re going!” Eren yelled.

               He was shocked when Jean stayed quiet, passing up an opportunity to get into a screaming competition with his nemesis.  He watched as Jean returned to the bench he’d been sitting on previously.  He moved like a zombie and held his left arm with his right hand.  The sight was almost enough to make Eren ask if he was okay, but that would have to wait.

               “Please take a seat, Eren,” Professor Kirschtein said, motioning to an exam table in the center of the small room.

               “Roll up your left sleeve, Eren,” Dr. Jaeger instructed as he turned to the nearby counter to grab something.

               “Why?  Why am I here?” Eren asked, reluctantly rolling up his sleeve as he spoke.

               “Just a quick shot.  You won’t feel a thing,” his father replied, turning back around with a needle in his hand.

               “Yeah, well, that shot made Jean act like a zombie.  I don’t think I want it,” Eren retorted, backing away a bit on the table, but he only succeeded in bumping into Professor Kirschtein behind him.

               Eren began to panic as he felt Jean’s father place his hands on his shoulders, holding the boy in place as Dr. Jaeger approached with the needle.  Eren prepared to start screaming and kicking, but the moment he opened his mouth, he heard Professor Kirschtein speak up behind him.

               “Alakazam, hypnosis.”

               A moment later, or at least it was to Eren, he became aware that he was sitting on the bench outside the medical room next to Jean.  Glancing to his left, Eren observed Jean’s right hand still clinging to his left arm, probably where he too had received the shot.  He still seemed dazed or maybe, like Eren, he was just feeling betrayed.

               “Okay, boys, you can come back in,” Dr. Jaeger called from the doorway.

               Neither Jean nor Eren made a move to get up, but that didn’t seem to go over too well.

               “Come here, boys,” Eren’s father tried again.  “No tricks this time.”

               “Why the hell should we believe you?!?” Eren screamed, jumping to his feet a bit too quickly, considering he still felt dizzy.

               When he didn’t fall like he expected to, he looked around to find that the reason for this was because Jean had grabbed him and held him up.  Jean still looked out of it, and now Eren was sure that it was because he was hurt that their fathers had done something without their consent.

               “Because you’re both going to thank me some day for the gift I just gave you.  Do you know how many people in this world would kill to get that power?” Dr. Jaeger retorted, somehow sounding calm despite the weight of his words.

               Eren paused for a moment, sharing a glance with Jean, before he could find the words to answer his father with.

               “What power?” he asked meekly, realizing that it was too late to fight and the only thing to do now was give in and figure out what was going in.

               Instead of answering his son, Eren’s father just turned around and walked back into the small room, silently signaling for the two boys to follow him.  Reluctantly, Eren followed Jean back into the room and took a seat beside him on the examination table.  He felt like an alien as his father and Dr. Kirschtein examined them from a distance before approaching with a small, wooden box.  It looked absolutely ancient, complete with charred, black edges and chiseled writing in a long-forgotten language.

               “What’s that?” Eren asked, more to break the deafening silence than to actually get an answer. 

               By now, Eren was well aware that asking for answers didn’t improve his chances in the slightest in actually receiving them.  If he was meant to know, he would be told.  This time, instead of being told what was inside, Eren was shown.

               Professor Kirschtein gently opened the box, revealing two shining, crystal spheres.  Eren was captivated by their glow, and he noticed that Jean was too.  Still without speaking, Jean’s father removed one of the spheres and handed it to his son.  It emanated a soothing pink glow, and Eren watched as Jean turned it over and over in his hands, trying to figure out where the light was coming from.  Eren was too busy watching Jean to realize that Professor Kirschtein was holding out the other sphere.  Professor Kirschtein coughed to get Eren’s attention and gently placed the light purple orb into Eren’s awaiting hands.  Despite the light it was giving off, the crystal was cool to the touch.

               “Where’s the third one?” Jean asked quietly, causing Eren to look back at the now empty box.

               Though he hated to admit it, Jean was right.  The orbs had been resting in padded notches within the box, but there were three such grooves, not just two.

               “It’s already with its owner,” Dr. Jaeger answered coolly.  “He was given his years ago and was the first to receive the gift we’ve just given you.”

               “Heh.  The shots or these gems?” Eren asked with a laugh, still not happy about this situation.

               “Both,” his father answered, glaring at him.

               “What’s this about?” Eren asked once again.  He was getting tired of not having his questions answered.

               Dr. Jaeger and Professor Kirschtein shared a look before turning back to their sons.

               “Now isn’t the time for explanations,” Jean’s father stated, closing the box and putting it back in a cabinet to the side of the room.

               Eren was about to explode, but, luckily, level-headed Jean stepped in first.

               “Dad, something is obviously going on.  These things are clearly important.  And the shots, surely they weren’t just for show.  I think I get it, what you’ve been saying all these years, but surely you can give us a hint as to—”

               “Sorry, Jean.  It’s up to you two to determine your own destinies.  The rest of us are just along for the ride,” he answered, silencing his son. 

               Jean lowered his head again to observe the crystal in his hand.  His father walked up to him and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

               “No matter what you decide, I support you.  I’ve raised you well enough.  I know you’ll turn this wicked world around,” Jean’s father said, pulling his son into a hug.

               Eren was even more confused, but it seemed like Jean knew a little bit about what was going on.  He’d just have to battle him for answers tomorrow on the beach.  Too bad he was screwed due to type disadvantage. 

               As if this whole situation was normal, the four of them shuffled down the stairs and exited the laboratory.  Eren gave Jean, who was clutching his crystal and sketchpad to his chest, one last look before the boy turned away and headed home with his father.  After Dr. Jaeger locked up the lab, he turned to Eren and extended the key to him.

               “I have a spare at home.  This one is for you.  Keep it safe, and come here if you ever need a little guidance,” his father said as Eren took the key.

               Without waiting for a response, he began walking back home.  Eren looked at the key in his hand for a few moments before slipping the string that it was on around his neck.  He took off, running after his father and quickly overtaking him, deciding to run all the way home and straight to his room.  Once there, he flopped down on his bed and held the glowing, purple gem towards the ceiling.  He wondered if Jean was doing the exact same thing in his room, but the fact that Eren was wasting his time thinking about his rival quickly made him feel ill. 

               After turning off the lights, Eren climbed into his bed and tried to make his mind go blank.  It wouldn’t cooperate though and instead ran wild with all of his discoveries and still unanswered questions from the day.  Just as he thought he was going to drive himself mad with all the thoughts racing through his head, Eren was able to force himself to think about a single thing, a hypothesis that hit him as he stared at the purple glow on his ceiling and walls. 

               Did that mysterious blonde boy, the one haunting both Jean and Eren, have the third crystal, and even if he did, what in the world were the three of them meant to do with these things?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I got the Super Special Awesome Edition of AoT Part 1, and this is how Funimation has decided to spell things. I think I fixed all my previous chapters. =)
> 
> Eren Jaeger  
> Mikasa Ackermann  
> Armin Arlelt  
> Jean Kirschtein  
> Conny Springer  
> Marco Bodt  
> Sasha Braus  
> Reiner Braun  
> Bertholdt Hoover  
> Annie Leonhart  
> Christa Lenz
> 
> I think that's basically everyone so far... =)


End file.
